Their Destiny
by Aranna Undomiel
Summary: Aragorn has to leave Arwen for a mission from Elrond, but travelling through Mirkwood he gets into trouble... Shall he be able to survive with the help of an Elf?.. Please R&R, it's my first. Chapter 23 is finally up!
1. Lost in thougts

Chapter one

Lost in thoughts....

It was a very beautiful morning, that could even been seen inside Mirkwood Forest. In the very rare open spots, you could see the sun shine and sky was blue without the look of a cloud. Because of the sun, it looked light under the trees and the temperature was nice. Mirkwood almost looked like a normal forest at that moment, instead of a from fearsome creatures forgiven place......

Aragorn walked through the forest, making his way to the center of the forest, where he hoped he would find the Elves living in Mirkwood under the command of their king Thranduill. Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell, and his foster-father, sent him to Thranduil to request his help with finding a creature called Gollum. Aragorn wasn't altogether that happy with this assignment,, because it meant he had to leave Arwen, Elronds' daughter, and his one true love, despite the fact she was an immortal Elvenprincess and he a mortal human. 

So while he was walking through Mirkwood with the sun shining in his face, his thougths went back to Arwen...........

__

"Arwen, I have to tell you something, my love" Aragorn softly said as he walked into her room. _"I know", _Arwen nodded, _"Ada told me you had to leave tomorrow. But I beg you, do not worry your heart about leaving me, I will be fine. It is you I am worried about... A dark cloud has been growing in my mind. But there is also hope: you will find something or someone, you never expected, but I am sure it will help you find your way and you will have profit from it for the rest of your life..._

So don't worry, meleth nin, and just go as you should" **( ..my love...)**

Aragorn listened to her words again, wondering what they could mean and he was about to find in this dark and creepy forest. But thouhg he tried very hard, he could not possibly come up with a solution for the mysterious words Arwen had spoken. And then, suddenly feeling very lonely without her, his thoughts went back to their last moments together....

"Do not let your heart be troubled, meleth nin" he heard Arwen say, and he turned towards her. _"Come and go to sleep, for tomorrow you have to get up early for your journey to Mirkwood" _She gave him a kiss and stretched herself herself out beside him. _"Don't worry, everything will be fine..." _was the last thing he heard before he fell asleep..... **(... my love..)**


	2. Warnings

A/N:   
**Anastasia Who**: Thanx for being my first reviewer. I hope you like this chapter just as much and please keep reviewing. 

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GothVamp: Thanx for reviewing and I followed your advise J   
  
Chapter Two 

  
Warnings…. 

  
The next morning Aragorn had to get up very early. He woke up and looked around. The first thing he saw was Arwen, curled up beside him, resting her head against his chest. He gently stroke her hair and kissed her forehead, causing her to wake up. _"Good morning, meleth nin,_ " he said with a smile, _"I am sorry to have woken you, but I have to get up."_ Arwen smiled too and gave him a gentle kiss. Then she got out of bed and put on her dress. Aragorn changed into his ranger tunic, feeling sad to leave his beautiful Elven clothes…. 

After a quick breakfast, he got his stuff and went to Arwen and Elrond to say goodbye. Elrond told him again what his task was and that it was important not to fail. During Elronds' speech, Arwen stood beside him and hugged him. When Elrond went away to give them some privacy, she turned to him and kissed him for the last time in a long period...   
_"Goodbye meleth nin,"_ she said _" good luck with your task. And remember what I've told you. When you are in trouble, remember my words. It all will work out just fine, I promise. Just go now, for waiting any longer will cause us both pain" _And with that she turned around and left the room.   
Aragorn wandered around in Rivendell a bit longer, having trouble to leave his home. But then, with a last look to his bedroom where he'd know Arwen would be, he left Rivendell and headed for Mirkwood...   
  
That was now 2 weeks ago and he started missing Arwen more and more every day. But he knew he had to go to king Thranduil, so he tried not to think about it that much, hoping the missing would fade a bit. But how hard he tried not to think about her, she kept creeping back into his mind and every time he heard their conversations again and he saw her beautifully shaped face in front of him, as if she was with him at that moment. When he needn't to be at his sharpest, when he could walk without having to watch carefully at the scenery around him, looking for danger, his thoughts went back to the last time he saw Arwen.   
But though he knew he had to be on his guard in Mirkwood, the beautiful weather and the warmth of the sun made him dream away.... 

  
Suddenly, a soft noise snapped him out of his thoughts. Aragorn looked around for any living beings approaching him, because it had sounded as the breaking of a little branch under one's foot. He looked around to see were his wandering in thoughts had led him. He stood in the grass of one of the very rare clearings in Mirkwood Forest. But just like everything else in Mirkwood these days, the clearing had nothing friendly. On one side there were lots of dark trees, you could almost feel the anger and pain radiating from within the trees. The trees grew close to each other, almost looking like it was one tree, which had grown in both length, and height, creating a dangerous environment for those it wanted to harm. Anyway, because of the huge trees clinging together, there was no way to get past the trees to the next part of the forest.   
On the right to the trees, a small hill rose into the air, covered with bushes and plants with thorns. The rest of the small clearing was surrounded by normal trees, like the ones that you could find in every forest in Middle-Earth, therefore creating a natural trap. 

  
Aragorn could see nothing around him, nor did he hear anything anymore. But the sense for danger a good Ranger always develops, told him he had to be careful.   
Very, very careful... 

TBC 

  
Because of the long time it took me to be able to post this chapter (Computer breakdown), the third chapter will be posted very shortly after this one.   
Please review after reading this chapter.


	3. In trouble

A/N: Sorry it took a bit longer then expected. I had the chapter ready on Thursday, but my Beta

didn't have time until yesterday, so I couldn't post it earlier then today.

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Anastasia Who: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I'm sorry for the delay, I really meant

to update sooner. About Aragorn's health, I can't promise anything ;) But be sure I won't let him die.

BalrogEv:Glad you liked it. And you were quite right about the tree-word. I tried not to

use a word so often in one sentence this time.

Chapter Three   
  
In trouble....   
  
  
  
Aragorn looked around, wondering what it could be that made him so nervous. Usually he never got scared that easily, but his senses told him something was very wrong. He felt like running, a feeling he had never had until now, not even in situations of great danger. Suddenly everything inside him yelled: DANGER and he spun around on his heels, only to see his fear becoming true. In front of him a group of orcs had entered the clearing and spread out over it, surrounding him. There were at least half a dozen orcs around him now and he was just by himself. The number of orcs was not really the biggest problem, because he had fought against heavy odds more then once...   
  
But this time, one of the orcs carried a bow and a quiver filled with black-feathered arrows, which were probably poisoned. Considering the fact that these creatures wouldn't mind shooting someone in the back, he decided not to turn his back to the one who carried the bow. But that meant he had to leave his back unprotected to the orcs behind him.   
  
The orcs were still busy getting into the right position, so Aragorn decided to attack them by surprise. He slowly moved his hand to his hip to grab his small knife, pulling it out and getting it ready for throwing. He decided to aim for the orc with the bow, so he wouldn't have to worry about getting an arrow in his back. His experiences had taught him that in a large group of orcs only one or two could handle bow and arrow. He hoped that would be the situation too this time and that there wouldn't be another in this band that knew how to shoot him with arrows after the first one was killed.   
  
These thoughts raced quickly trough his head, while he turned himself to his chosen target. He got a good grip of his knife and he slowly raised his hand a bit, so he could put more power behind his throw. In one swift movement, almost as smooth as his Elvenbrothers would have been able to do; he threw his knife straight at the orc. It hit the vile creature right between the eyes and with a growl it collapsed, on top of his bow, therefor covering it for the rest.   
  
While seeing this, a feeling of relief flashed through his body and he felt a little bit surer of himself. But his relief quickly melted away, for the biggest orc, who was probably the leader of this group, came charging at him. The orc yelled something in the Black Speech and the other four followed their leader, but not very eagerly.   
  
The five orcs headed straight towards him, forming a half circle. Aragorn took a few steps to the left, so he would be dealing with the two on the outside of the circle first. He raised his sword to block to the sword of the orc and with his other hand he hit it in its face. The orc stumbled backwards, colliding with the next one in line. Because they were out of balance, Aragorn could kill them both in a few seconds without much effort from his side.   
  
Then he turned around to face the others, who had been on the right side of the half circle and had walked around him when he fought with the two, now dead orcs. He ducked the blade of a swinging sword, and stuck his own in the now unprotected orc. He spun a circle with his sword raised and cut the head off of the fifth orc.   
  
Now only the leader of the pack, Zkarsak, was left and Aragorn felt confident about his chances of defeating him too. Suddenly Zkarsak burst out in a load yell, which could probably be heard about a mile further away. He yelled another time and then looked at Aragorn, who was pretty stunned by the acts of his enemy. If this wasn't a pretty serious situation Aragorn would have burst out in laughter, but now he only looked at Zkarsak puzzled about the meaning of these cries.   
  
" _You will not make it out of here alive, human_" Zkarsak said with an evil grin and he spit at Aragorn. " _You have my word for that!"_

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I plan to have the next chapter on in the weekend, Sunday at last. 

Thanx for reading and please review.


	4. Author's Note

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AUTHOR'S NOTE 

ANASTASIA WHO, I'm sorry I can't update on Sunday. You see my BETA is sick, the poor girl. So she wasn't able to check my fifth chapter and I don't like posting without a check of what I have written, so that's why my chapter isn't posted yet. I don't know exactly when my Beta is going to be better again so there are 3 things I can do. It's your choice:

I send you the unchecked chapter via email, so you can read it anyway, though it might not be the right version. You wait, together with me, 'till my Beta is better and then I'll post it. So than you might get 2 chapters in a row next Sunday. Or if you don't want to give your email and don't want to wait, I could post it know, although I wouldn't like to, because it's unchecked, and then switch it with the right one after my Beta is back. 

So tell me what you want me to do and I'll make sure it happens as quick as possible. Sorry for the delay,

Aranna Undomiel


	5. Ambushed

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Anastasia Who: Thanks again. You're my one and only loyal reviewer. Yay you *hands over flowers* Hope you like this one too. Just so you know, I'm planning to update every Sunday from now on, just for you. 

Chapter Four

Ambushed....

Aragorn looked around at the clearing, the bodies of the defeated orcs spread across it. The clearing seemed to be normal again, if it weren't for the orc in front of him.

Aragorn wondered how the orc in front of him could be so sure about this when the same man who now stood in front of him defeated his whole company.   
  
And with a small grin of his own he took his position for the fight. He waited for his opponent to start the fight, knowing how hasty orcs usually crashed into battle. But Zkarsak also waited; he even looked around like he was in no hurry at all. He especially looked to a point behind Aragorn, at the side of the clearing with the trees that had grown tight together. It almost looked like he was waiting for something to happen, something that he seemed to expect from that particular side.. _But what could possibly come from there_, Aragorn thought, _nobody could get past those trees, right?   
_  
Zkarsak looked one more time and then burst out in an evil laugh. The sound of the creatures' laugh sent a shiver down Aragorns spine, for no apparent reason.   
  
The laughing didn't seem to stop, it echoed through the whole clearing. But when Aragorn looked at Zkarsak, he realised that he wasn't laughing anymore. He just stood there, listening to the laughs, looking very pleased. A dark thought crept into his mind, one that made him turn around...   
  
Several orcs had entered the clearing behind him and more were coming out of the supposed to be impenetrable side. The sound of Zkarsaks' voice made him turn back.   
  
_"You don't look very happy, human. Don't you like our little surprise? How unthankful of you! Ah, but then we have only one option, don't we?! **Boys**"_ he shouted to the arriving orcs, _" let us make him remember our surprise for the rest of his life, shall we?! Though I doubt his life will last very long! "_ The orcs burst out in laughs again and Aragorns' confidence melted away like snow for the sun.   
  
The orcs made two circles around him, closing him in, but not so close he could kill them.... Not yet anyway, Aragorn thought by himself. Zkarsak took post in the outer circle, as to watch the events that were going to happen.   
  
The outer circle grounded his place, while the inner circle started moving in. The first one was killed shortly after that: Before the orc had his sword up in the air, his head fell to the ground. During the swing Aragorn hit a second one in his arm, causing it to growl of pain and anger. But the empty space in the circle because of the killed one was soon filled up by an orc from the second ring.   
Aragorn duck to the ground. There he swung his sword out and another orc fell to the ground. He got to his feet to block an aim for his head, but then he felt the pain flash trough his body. An orc-sword had cut his left upper-arm and he saw, and felt, the blood seeping out of it, colouring his tunic bright red.   
He turned around to kill the orc that had dared to attack him, but doing that another sword cut the flesh on his lower back.   
  
_Whatever move I try to make_, Aragorn thought, _my back is always unprotected_. He tried to spin a circle with his sword right in front of him, and indeed he managed to kill a few orcs. But when he looked up, all his hope faded: More orcs were coming from behind the small hill, and with great haste...   
  
But then he noticed the fallen orcs had not been replaced. He looked around to see where the outer circle went, only to see most of them lying on the ground, dead. He wondered how this was possible, because he hadn't killed that much orcs himself yet. But then a searing pain racing trough his body made him stop wondering.   
  
Because he had looked around, his attention was drawn away for a split second, so his reaction was a bit slower than usual. An orc had taken advantage of this and had pushed his sword into Aragorns' stomach. Now he jerked it up and down, only to cause him even more pain then he already had. He cringed his teeth at the flashes of pain running through his body and he stabbed the orc. But before he could get the sword out of his stomach, he instinctively dove away for something coming from behind. But he was not fast enough, so the sword brushed his temple, causing light-flashes to appear in front of his eyes and he started swaying on his feet.   
  
Because of the pain he couldn't stand up straight anymore and the darkness that spread from the outer part of his eyes made him sink to the ground, with the sword still sticking out of his side.   
  
His vision started to blur and everything became dark around him.   
  
The last thing he heard was the sound of yelling orcs. _They don't sound too happy..._ was his last though before he lost consciousness.

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That's it for now, hope you "liked" it. Please review and the next chapter will be up next Sunday


	6. The first time

Yay, my beta is well again, so here's the next chapter. Thanks to my reviewers:

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Anastasia Who: Thanx for the review and for your help. I won't forget it.

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Alyena: I'm glad you liked it. Your questions will be answered in this chapter, so enjoy!

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Chapter Five   
  
The first time...   
  
  
  
After the heat of the battle had died away and everything was as quiet as it used to be in Mirkwood, an Elf entered the clearing, looking at the chaos and death found there.   
  
_"Not bad, not bad at all"_ he mumbled to himself _"I'm sure my beloved brother doesn't have such a high count"_ And with that he began searching the clearing, counting the bodies he found there. Once or twice he had to finish off his job, because those orcs were still busy dying..   
  
He had started his count on the open side of the clearing, where he had entered, so it took him a few minutes to get to the middle of it. There the bodies lay close together, in a circle, a bit piled up.   
  
The Elf continued counting, meanwhile shoving the counted bodies aside in order to count the ones underneath them. Working himself to the middle of the heap, his smile widened because of the score he had made this time, but still his eyes kept their puzzled look.   
  
_"Why" _he thought, _" do those creatures lie in a circle and all with their ugly faces pointed to the middle? There must be something interesting to be found there!"_ And so he continued with working his way to the middle of the dead orcs.....   
  
When he had shoved almost all the bodies aside, he saw two boots sticking out under the still form of a dead orc, and he could see by the way those were made they weren't an orc fabric. His heart skipped a beat when he realised the boots were Elven, but they did not look like Mirkwood boots, nor were the forms on it figures you could find on the clothes of Mirkwood-Elves. He started pushing away the orcs around as fast as he could, not bothering to count anymore. After what seemed a long time to the Elf, he finally pushed aside the last one and what he saw made him gasp: A rather young Man was lying on his back, not even moving after the removal of the weight that was on top of him. He had dark brown, almost black, hair, what used to be like silk, but now hung down in strands because of the blood that had dried in it, coming from a gash in his forehead. But that wasn't what had made the Elf, a skilled warrior who had been in quite some fights before and had seen what terrible wounds could be found there, gasp. Now the orc-body was removed, the dark-brown, blackish clothes he wore formed a sharp contrast with the silver of the blade that was sticking out of his stomach. A pool of blood had been formed on the ground, and the Elf could clearly see that the Man had lost a lot of blood.   
  
_"Stupid human"_ the Elf whispered and he thought: _"nobody in full possession of his faculties would go into this part of Mirkwood all alone. He caused his own death by coming here._ **_Hiro în.... ab' wanath.._** ". While saying this, he kneeled down beside the poor Man and his long, slender hands wiped away the hair hanging in front of its eyes. Then he stood up again and turned as if planning to leave, but while he did that, his right foot touched the Mans' thigh. **(_May he rest in peace)_**  
  
A soft moan escaped from the inside of him, and he slightly moved his head. The Elf looked back to him, with a surprised look on his delicate face.   
  
_" He's not dead, dumb Elf"_ he thought to himself. _" And when you leave he will die, but staying here is not too smart considering the dead orcs around us" _  
  
He pulled of his cloak and placed it over the unconscious Man. Then he bent down and shoved his arms under the hurt body and lifted it up. Doing this his eyes fell upon the boots again. _" How is it possible a Man wears Elvenboots? "_ he thought _"They're not that easy to get and Elves don't give them to humans for no reason. I swear he'll regret it when he has hurt an Elf for them."_, the Elf pledged with a stern face.   
  
He turned around and walked into the forest with his wounded fare...... 

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Well since my beta was better since yesterday, I don't want her to beta another chapter right away, so chapter six will arrive next Sunday.

For now please review, please....


	7. First conversation

Okay, the late update is not my fault! So don't kill me ducks away and searches for angry people Blame it on my computer! He has this major breakdown, he won't even start. So I can't update if he doesn't start, right? He still doesn't work but I'll try to borrow a computer as often as I can, promised. But chapter 7 will be soon after this, because it's already at my Beta.

And since I,m in the middle of my exams now, those two will be the last for now. But in two weeks Im ready and then the updates will come regularly on Sundays again, and maybe faster because Ive got holiday then.

So here's to my reviewers:

**Anastasia Who: Sorry, no clue about the Elf's identity yet, hehe. You'll have to wait for that. And Aragorn, well let's say this, he has to go through many things to become well, poor him. But he will be fine in the end.**

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**And my reviewer without identity: Please give your name, that's a lot easier and I'd like to know who's reviewing, savvy. But anyways, please keep reading, sorry for the delay.**

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Chapter 6

First conversation......

Night had descended over the forest and numerous stars were spread out over the raven-black cloak of heaven, when Aragorn finally gained consciousness again. His fogged mind felt like it was filled with cottons, but it still tried to work and figure out were he was. He tried to open his eyes, but it felt like two heavy weights lay upon his eyelids and he needed a few tries before he could open them at last. He blinked, to get his eyes focussed again, so that he could see what was in front of him. When that had succeeded, he realised he was no longer on the clearing where he had fought. First, there were no orc-bodies surrounding him anymore and the weight of his last slain orc that fell on top of him was no longer there. Secondly, when he looked up, he did not see the open sky with all his stars. No, he was looking at the underside of the canopy of the trees. Thirdly, a fire was burning not too far from his head, to the right.

He slightly could feel the warmth of it and he could hear the cackling of the fire. _"How did I get here?"_ Aragorn wondered, _"Did the orcs take me with them, to have some "fun" with me when I wake up?"_ But he resented that thought and immediately gave his own answer to the question:_" No, off course not! Orcs would never have let me stay outside, especially not when that means staying under the trees, because they hate trees and nature. They would have taken me into one of their caves or some other Valar-forsaken place. And they most certainly wouldn't have made a fire to warm him. But who, or what, got me here then?"_

Then he realised he had heard a voice singing when he woke up and when he listened very carefully he could still hear it. Raised by an Elven-Lord and surrounded by Elves in his younger years, he had no trouble determining the language the song was in.

_"An Elf must have taken me here, but why was he here in the first place. Even for Mirkwood-Elves, this part of the forest is not entirely safe to linger in."_ Aragorn tried to turn his head around to both sides, so that he might be able to see his rescuer_ " or rescuers"_ he thought, _"Though there's only one Elf singing that doesn't mean there aren't more of them here, right?"_ He tried to listen from what direction the sound was coming. It seemed to come from somewhere left behind him. He turned on his left side to locate the singer. But he had forgotten about his stomach wound for a second, therefor caused this unexpected movement a flash of pain. Because he was off guard, a groan escaped his mouth and he gritted his teeth over this.

Immediately the singing stopped and Aragorn could hear a soft rustle of leaves as the Elf leapt from the tree. Though he expected the new arriving company, the appearance of the Elf was still a slight shock, because of the swiftness and silentness of the approach.

Aragorn's breath stopped for a moment as he looked up to the fair being in front of him. As dark as his foster-brothers Elladan and Elrohir were, as light haired was this Elf. In the glow of the fire his hair looked like it was spun gold, as if it had caught the dying light of the sunset. The golden Elf was tall and very thin, but his body seemed as hard and strong as a rock. His moves were elegant and the way he behaved gave him a natural air of royalty and leadership.

The Elf had kneeled down beside Aragorn to check if his stomach-wound had begun bleeding again with the movement. Then the Elf turned his head towards Aragorn to check upon the head-wound, and Aragorn looked into the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen! Arwen had once said that his own grey eyes, who looked like the sky before a storm, were the most wonderful eyes she had ever seen, but Aragorn was sure she had never seen this ones when she had said that. But where his eyes were lit with an inner fire and reflected his position towards life with a sparkle that tingled inside them; the Elf's eyes were cold and looked like ice. They showed no emotion, nor did his face.

The Elf replaced the bandages around Aragorn's head, for they had become filthy by lying on the forests' ground. Aragorn couldn't keep his eyes of the Elf, and he noticed it. His right eyebrow shot up 'till it almost reached his blonde hair and he turned his piercing, icy eyes towards Aragorn's face.

_" What are you looking at? Never seen an Elf before, have ya?"_ He said, his voice mingled with loathing and hatred. _" Oh, my mistake, off course you did. How would you have got those boots otherwise, eh? I bet you're the last thing the Elf saw, am I right?"_ His view swayed over Aragorn's beaten and wounded body, and then returned back to his eyes. _" You're lucky I'm not like you, because if I were, you wouldn't be lying here, all taken care off"_

Listening to the Elf in front of him, Aragorn could feel his anger rising. _"What are you thinking, talking to me like that"_ he shouted back to the Elf, _" You're not my father, nor any other relative of me. And I most certainly haven't killed an Elf, never did before and I'm not planning to do so, though you're tempting me a lot right now!"_

The Elf's eyes stayed as cold as they were and only the look on his face changed from impassive to contempt, and it looked like he had the greatest trouble for not smiling in disdain. _" And if you don't want me here", _Aragorn continued, _ "then I'll gladly leave. I can take care of myself, I don't need your help!"_ He climbed to his feet, but before he stood straight up; lights began to flash for his eyes and his surroundings began to spin. Darkness struck him with the speed of light and he collapsed back to the ground. Before he reached that, he already had lost consciousness again and therefor he did not see the Elf's gaze change from cold to slightly worried. Nor did he feel that the Elf caught his head before it would collide with the ground.

_" It does not look like that"_ the Elf sighed in response to Aragorn's angry speech. _" I'm afraid you do need my help"_...

That's it for now, chapter 7 coming up soon, I think Sunday. And sorry again for the long time it took me

Please review, I love reviews.


	8. During the night

To my reviewers, yay new ones!:  
  
**Elanor8: Thanx for reviewing, but sorry no telling who the Elf is yet. Next chapter, I promise.  
  
Jacquelinestel: Thanx for your lovely review. I feel totally happy now :)  
Hope you like this chapter too.**

Chapter 7

During the night......

The Elf gently put down Aragorn's motionless body. He shook his head in dismay when he noticed the stomach wound had started bleeding again when Aragorn had tried to get up and walk away. The bandages around his stomach, made from Aragorn's own torn apart shirt, were soon soaked with his blood. _" Damn the touchiness of humans"_ the Elf cursed while he unwrapped the bandages. _I had to change his bandages three times before it stopped bleeding and then he jumps up for no reason, pretending like he's all right and now it's bleeding again! Now I only have got one bandage left, but it doesn't look like it's going to stop bleeding anytime soon. And he's losing way too much blood like this... _the Elf thought while he gently wrapped the new bandages around Aragorn's stomach. When he finished that, he washed the blood away that had oozed downwards from underneath the dressings. Then he collected the blood-soaked shreds of Aragorn's shirt and the washing-cloth and threw them into the fire, so that the smell of blood would not attract the wild and ferocious animals that lived in Mirkwood.

The Elf hoped that they would be scared away enough by the fires that were burning. He had placed them in a circle around the camp, but he knew that when they would smell the blood, the fire was not enough to stop them from getting their prey. But he was there also and he would protect the human, even if it would cost him his immortal life. He did not know why he was willing to give up his immortal existence for this young Man, but something from inside him told him that he was important and that he would do some things that also involved the Elves. He still did not like the Man, he was too arrogant and..., well he was human, but he would not leave him as an evening meal for the evil creatures of Mirkwood.

But the animals of Mirkwood Forest were familiar with the deadly skills of this warrior-Elf and they would not risk their lives in order to get the human, when there were easier preys to catch in the forest. But when orcs would catch the scent of human-flesh, not even the sight of the Elf or his skills in battle would stop them... Therefore he had burned the bloody clothes and he had asked the trees to shield the fires from eyes that should not see them.

The Elf had been staring out into the woods, but when he heard Aragorn stir a little, he immediately turned around, only to see the human eyes fluttering open. _"Oh great here we go again"_ he thought and he sighed inwardly, but his face stayed as impassive as it was before as he looked at Aragorn's clumsy tries to sit up straight. Then he bent down and helped the human with sitting up. _"Don't do that again or I will be unable to help you the next time"_ he said harshly, while he looked at the human's face that looked pale, but still very angry and he waited for the words that would surely be coming...

_Okay, he's very short, I know, especially compared to chapter 6( I think that's the longest I wrote so far), but that wasn't meant to be. Originally he was much longer, but when I read chapter 8, I noticed I still hadn't told the name of the Elf, though Aragorn was talking to him. So I decided I should make a new chapter 8 and make the old one 9. But the end of this chapter was meant to be continued in the old chapter eight, but it didn,t fit in with the newone so I had to skip it and put in chapter 8. zzzz I know a lot of rambling from me, but I felt like explaining, hehe. Chapter 8 will come in 2 weeks because I'm very busy with my exams, poor me. But after that I'm free to write more often = more updates!  
  
Well that's it from me; your turn to write a lot in your reviews, ( _


	9. During the night

I am so terribly sorry that it took me so incredibly long to post this chapter, but I was very, very busy with my exams, which I passed by the way YAY I'm a graduate!. And after that I went on a holiday without internet-access. And when I started writing again I realised I was that happy with my last chapter, so I rewrote it and extended it, a lot if I might say. This is my longest chapter till now! And when I had it written it took my beta, who does a perfect job by the way, almost two weeks to beta it and that's why it's posted so late. But now I'm free to write a lot and that I'm doing, so with a little luck the next chapter will be arriving very soon and then I hope to post regularly again. So my greatest apologies for letting you wait so long.

**To my reviewers:**

**Elanor8****: Thanx for your review and you can find out if your right about the Elf in this chapter. I'm sorry you had to wait so long for it.**

**Jaquelinestel****: I'm really glad you liked it so much. And don't blame yourself, I'm already happy you found it now.**

**Kathira****: I took your comments serious so I rewrote a part of it, hope you like it better this way. On about the languages, everything was spoken in Westron, for the Elf assumed Aragorn wouldn't understand Sindarin. In this chapter different languages are spoken, but you can pick them out easily. **

**Anastasia Who****: I'm glad you're back again. I hope you didn't bail out because off the long waiting time.**

**Ukkie****: Thanx for reviewing, here's the next chapter, hope you like this one too. ;)**

Okay, so here's how I did it. The first part of this chapter is exactly the same as the last chapter, so if you think it looks familiar, you're right. I marked the starting of the new part wit an . And from there it's really new. I will remove the old chapter but this is easier for you all to read it. Enjoy

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Chapter 7

During the night......

The Elf gently put down Aragorn's motionless body. He shook his head in dismay when he noticed the stomach wound had started bleeding again when Aragorn had tried to get up and walk away. The bandages around his stomach, made from Aragorn's own torn apart shirt, were soon soaked with his blood. _"Damn the touchiness of humans"_ the Elf cursed while he unwrapped the bandages. _I had to change his bandages three times before it stopped bleeding and then he jumps up for no reason, pretending like he's all right and now it's bleeding again! Now I only have got one bandage left, but it doesn't look like it's going to stop bleeding anytime soon. And he's losing way too much blood like this... _the Elf thought while he gently wrapped the new bandages around Aragorn's stomach. When he finished that, he washed the blood away that had oozed downwards from underneath the dressings. Then he collected the blood-soaked shreds of Aragorn's shirt and the washing-cloth and threw them into the fire, so that the smell of blood would not attract the wild and ferocious animals that lived in Mirkwood.

The Elf hoped that they would be scared away enough by the fires that were burning. He had placed them in a circle around the camp, but he knew that when they would smell the blood, the fire was not enough to stop them from getting their prey. But he was there also and he would protect the human, even if it would cost him his immortal life. He did not know why he was willing to give up his immortal existence for this young Man, but something from inside him told him that he was important and that he would do some things that also involved the Elves. He still did not like the Man, he was too arrogant and..., well he was human, but he would not leave him as an evening meal for the evil creatures of Mirkwood.

But the animals of Mirkwood Forest were familiar with the deadly skills of this warrior-Elf and they would not risk their lives in order to get the human, when there were easier preys to catch in the forest. But when orcs would catch the scent of human-flesh, not even the sight of the Elf or his skills in battle would stop them... Therefore he had burned the bloody clothes and he had asked the trees to shield the fires from eyes that should not see them.

The night had passed for not more than then a quarter and the moon shone with her silver rays trough the dark black of the nightly sky, when the Elf heard something behind him. He had been staring out into the woods, but when he heard the slight movement, he spun around immediately, his bow and arrow aimed at the direction the sound had come from. He stared into the dark of the trees behind the circle of fires, but he could not detect anything.

He wondered what it was he had heard, for his Elven-senses had not warned him of any danger, not more then usual anyway. He relaxed his bow and let the tip of the arrow point to the ground, where the still form of the human lay. He looked at him for a few minutes and then turned away. Suddenly he heard the sound again: a soft, low moan.

He looked around again and then cursed at himself for his stupidity and his pounding heart_. "It's just the human, you wimp. Apparently he's regaining consciousness again."_ The Elf wondered what it could be that had made him so "jumpy" and decided that his nerves were still tense from the angry conversation with the young man earlier that night.

His gaze went back to Aragorn and it didn't surprise him when his gaze was answered. _"I would lay still if I were you,"_ the Elf advised, _"because I think you have proven you're not strong enough to do anything without help."_

Aragorn shot the Elf an angry look, not because of the tone, but because he knew the blond-haired being in front of him was right. He tried to prove the Elf's wrong by sitting up straight, but he only managed to lift his head and his shoulders; and even that had cost him a lot of strength. He kept trying, not willing to show his weakness to the Elf. Suddenly he felt the soft strength of the Elf's hands under his arm-pits and he was pulled up with his back against a tree. Not completely able to cope with his defeat yet, he mumbled: _"Thank you"_. The Elf's perfect hearing picked it up anyway and one of his eye-brows rose in reaction.

_"Is that a common gesture amongst Elves?"_ Aragorn wondered, remembering the many times Elrond, Elladan or Elrohir had looked at him like that; with one brow risen. It was likely the Elf would get angry because of the question, but Aragorn hadn't thought about that when he had asked it, it just sprung out of his mouth. But he saw he was wrong, the Elf just looked very puzzled.

_"What do you mean?"_ he asked hesitantly. _"Well, the pulling up of one eye-brow, I mean,"_ Aragorn answered and he tried to show it to the Elf; and failed miserably. The Elf shot one look at Aragorn's twitched face and burst out into a laugh. The laugh was melodically and it waved trough the air like music. Aragorn felt his spirit lighten at the sound of the laughter and he couldn't help beginning to chuckle too. _"Ú-carech tiri maen sen-men, firen"_ the Elf said, falling back to his own language.**_ (You don't look (too) clever this way, human)_** Aragorn grinned widely and nodded: _"I know"_. The Elf stopped laughing as abruptly as it started and looked at Aragorn with caution. _"Lyë… heniannech man im pedas2?"_ he said, speaking Elvish on purpose, to see if he heard it right.**_ (You…you understood what I said?)_**

_"Agoren"_ Aragorn confirmed to the Elf. **_(I did)._**

_"But how"_ the Elf asked and his whole face radiated disbelief and wonder.

Aragorn sighed. He knew that if he told his real name – Aragorn, son of Arathorn – the Elf immediately would know who he was, for all Elves have heard about the stories of the forgotten heir of Isildur. He did not wish the Elf to know, for he didn't want to be treated differently. He wanted the Elf to like him for who he was and not as his future king. And in the same instant he knew he could not tell about his Ada Elrond or his Elvenbrothers, or his youth in Imladris, because every Elf would know a human foster-child of Lord Elrond had to be special.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the accusing voice of the Elf in front of him: _"Are you thinking what story you should tell me so I would believe it. Don't try to lie to me, firen, for I can tell if you do"._

Aragorn sighed inwardly at the Elf's lack of control over his temper and shook his head. _ "I will not lie, why should I? I'm depended of you, how much I dislike it. I was just caught in a memory, that's all…_

_I was raised by Elves when my real parents were killed by orcs when I was very young and for a few years I had no idea that I wasn't an Elf. Until I found out I couldn't do everything my Elvenbrothers could. Then my parents explained I was a human and I started to learn Westron, though all I had spoken was Elvish"._ Aragorn's face had softened while he spoke and the Elf's anger disappeared when he looked at the evident love he saw in the human's face.

_"And what is your name, firen?" _ the Elf asked softly. **(human)**

_"My name is… Estel" _the young man said and he looked at the Elf for his reaction, which he knew would come. And he was right, but it wasn't the reaction he suspected. _"Hope…your name is Hope?"_ the Elf mumbled and his face saddened, _"I wished we still had that"_

Aragorn hadn't heard those words, for they were spoken to softly for his ears, nor did he see the Elf's facial expression sadden. _"Now you know my name, it's not more then fair you tell me yours, saviour"._

The Elf didn't seem to notice the sarcasm in the last word or he had decided to ignore it. He turned his face away from Aragorn and looked into the forest. He hoped the human, no, Estel, he corrected himself, wouldn't know too much about the Royal Family of Mirkwood, and more importantly, of their Crown Prince. For that was who he was, how most people knew him. But he didn't want to be treated as a Prince, always taken care off or being surrounded by guards. His brother didn't mind it that much, but he wasn't the Crown Prince, so he could do what he wanted to do to a certain extend. But he hated it; he wanted to get out of the Palace and wander trough his beloved forest on his own. That's why he had sneaked away from his guards during their orc-hunt. The guards were used to his escapes and would search for him. But then again, they wouldn't find their Prince if he didn't want them to.

He looked into the sky for a moment and then decided to take the chance. He turned around and looked at Aragorn, while saying: _"My name is Legolas "_. The Elf had been standing with his back to Aragorn and his turn was unexpected by the human, so the Elf could catch the pained look on Estel's face. _"Nice to meet you, Legolas" _Aragorn said with a painful grimace to the worried Elf.

_"I'm sorry Estel, I forgot about your injuries for a moment. Here let me lie you down."_ Aragorn tried to protest, but he definitely felt better when Legolas had laid him back on his old place near the fire. He felt his strength decline and only managed to say softly; _"Thank you"_ before everything became black again.

_"Watch it you boy, or you'll start to mean those words", _Legolas tried to lighten Aragorn's mood, but he saw he talked only to the creatures in the forest.

The Elf sighed and sat down by the fire too and his thoughts went to the difficult situation of what to do with the wounded Man.__

He knew he could not help the human well enough; he was definitely no Healer and his knowledge about healing stopped at putting a bandage around a wound. He knew nothing about the herbs that were needed to cure and neither did he know to close a wound properly. Off course, he had seen wounds been sewn close in battle and he would be able to give a good shot with that, but those victims were Elves. In those cases the flesh only had to be a little close to the other part of the wound, because the Elfish healing-powers would do the rest. But this was a human and the wound had to be closed very well or otherwise it would not heal and would keep bleeding.

_But how do I get him to a Healer?_ the Elf thought, _he couldn't walk, that's for sure! Horse riding might be possible because if he lies on the back of the horse he wouldn't have to move that much. But the only problem is how to get a horse? Mine I left at home, because he was sick and were at least at a one-day travel from the nearest village, so we can't lent one soon. That's no option too. But staying here isn't either... And what to do when we get to a Healer? They live inside the palace and King Thranduil would not be too pleased when I bring a human into his palace, not even a wounded one. But let not think about that yet, first things first, we aren't there yet. If only he should have to stay so still in order not to open his wounds! _

_That leaves only one thing to do then._ A mischievous and somewhat evil grin spread over the Elf's fair face. _That arrogant human is not going to like this solution..._ he laughed with the same grin still present...

When the morning came he turned to Aragorn and shook him by his shoulder. When Aragorn woke up, the Elf smiled the same smile he had done earlier in the morning and said: _"Wake up sleeping beauty, it is time to leave!" _

Aragorn did not feel at ease with the sudden happiness of the first so cold Elf and wondered what he was up to......

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**That's it for now. Hope you liked this really long chapter and I hope it cooled your anger for the long time it took me too post Hides in dark alley and looks around for angry people.**

**Please review, I live on those things, hehe.**


	10. Journey towards trouble

WARNING: this chapter isn't beta-ed yet, for my beloved beta GothVamp is on her holiday. But I still wanted to post it, so I'll do it. So don't flame for any stupid mistakes. ;)

**Here's to my wonderful reviewers:**

**Anastasia Who: I'm glad you liked it. I came up with the idea of Aragorn trying to hide his heritage since that's why he became a ranger after all. And about Legolas' part I had invented earlier on, glad you liked my idea. You'll find out what Legolas planned this chapter so enjoy.**

**Gozilla****: Thanx for your review. Hope you like this chapter too.**

**Celebrean****: Very big thanx for putting me on your favourites. **

So on with the story now then, shall we?!

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Chapter eight

Journey towards trouble…

_"Is this really necessary?"_ Aragorn asked the Elf, _"Are you sure there really is no other way to do this?"_

The one spoken to only smiled and gave him the same answer he had given him at least five times since they had left their camp half an hour ago: _"No, there isn't and you know it as well as I do, don't you?"_ Legolas answered in a mocking tone. Aragorn sighed deeply and that caused the Elf's smile to widen. Aragorn knew it was the only way, but that didn't make him feel much happier about his position. He had known the Elf's smile could bring no good for him and unfortunately for him he was right. Legolas had bended forward while stating: _"Since you are I no state for walking and we have not got a horse, I will have to carry you in order to get you to the King's healers." _ The mischievous grin had widened and he had laughed softly when he had looked at the shocked expression on Aragorn's face. He had lifted the young man in his arms, like he weighed not more then a feather, even before Aragorn had been able to protest about what was going to happen. The Elf had carefully held Aragorn in his arms and no matter what the human tried, Legolas could not be persuaded. So Aragorn reluctantly had given in to Legolas and had been complaining ever since…

This had caused the Elf's mood to rise with every minute that passed, while Aragorn's had almost dropped below freezing-point because of that. He just could stop thinking about the fact that he had to be carried around by the Elf the whole time. And though he knew Legolas was totally right with his explanation, and even though he knew very well he wasn't capable enough for riding, or even walking for that matter, at the moment, he just couldn't cope with it.

_Being carried like a baby wasn't exactly the way he had planned to arrive at King Thranduil's palace;_ he thought. He felt undignified and his pride had much to endure.__

_And he did not even want to think about what might happen when the Elf would tell his Mirkwood friends about the silly human he had to drag along with him. And when the story reached Rivendell; for he knew with what speed Elven-gossips travelled through the realms; he would be in big trouble. His brothers Elladan and Elrohir would be fooled by the name Estel and they wouldn't need long to figure the whole thing out, and when that happened, his life would be forfeit;_ he thought dramatically._ They would never stop teasing him with it for the rest of his life and there would be no way to escape it._

Aragorn sighed and looked up to the impassive face of the one who could make his life a bit more miserable. Legolas had his gaze directed straight forward and he frowned a bit. _But maybe I'm lucky,_ he thought, _Legolas doesn't look like his that much fun, so maybe he hasn't got any friends to tell it to?_ He shot another look at the Elf and his mood increased a bit. _Oh well, as long as I have to endure this, why not use it to the better for me_ and he snuggled a bit deeper into the arms of Legolas to shut out the cold of the early morning and he started drifting off…

Legolas meanwhile, unaware of Aragorn's thoughts, had other problems to worry about. The wind had gained strength pretty fast during the last hour and the treetops were now swaying due to the force of it. Luckily, the wind came from behind them, so the Elf had used his body to protect Aragorn from it as much as he could while the human was sleeping in his arms. The sky too, was changing. Not to its usual blue, spattered with white flocks of clouds that came after the dark black of the nightly sky, but to a threatening dark grey, with black clouds swirling through it. The air in the forest felt tense, almost as if it was waiting for something. No birds sang and he heard no other animals wander through the forest, not even with his keen hearing. Having grown up as a child of nature and his beloved forest, Legolas knew a big storm was forming above Mirkwood. The storm would not have worried him that much if it were not for the young man in his arms. He knew the liability of humans for cold and rain and Aragorn's wounds would make him even more liable for it, especially since he had no shirt to wear anymore.

He scanned the area for a cave of some kind to seek shelter in and almost sighed with relief as he recognised the area. A few more miles east was a cave big enough for both of them to hide in. He and his brother had come here often whenever they felt like escaping the captivity of their Royal duties. He only hoped that no other creature had come to the same idea…

He turned to the right and headed forward towards their new goal.

He had taken only a few steps when the first raindrops started to fall. He heard them ticking as they hit the branches and the leaves of the canopy above him, but when the rain started to fall faster, the trees couldn't stop the drops and they fell down to the ground and the two beings walking underneath them.

A small raindrop landed on Aragorn's nose and he startled out of his snoozing, causing Legolas to smile. He looked up to the sky, only to be greeted by the sight of an inky-grey cloak and lots of raindrops.

The rain started falling faster and faster and the seize of the drops grew with the second. Legolas bent forward so the upper part of his body would catch the rain before it hit Aragorn, but it didn't help much since the rain came pouring down in blazing streams. The increased wind blew through the rain, what made the impact more and more painful.

Legolas started running, but almost fell forward because of the weight in his arms that shifted. Sliding Aragorn into a better position for him, he started running, and nimbly raced past the trees, jumped over and dove away from falling branches and ducked the ones hanging on the trees. With every jump or turn he shifted the weight of Aragorn in his arms to maintain his balance. Aragorn was being jostled around and he didn't feel at ease. The slightest miscalculation in the Elf's movements could cause them both to fall down and with this speed the landing wouldn't be softly. He bounced up and down in the arms of the Elf. He started feeling a bit nausea, because of the pounding of his head wound. Legolas had to make a sharp turn to avoid a collision with a falling branch and this made Aragorn's upper body turn along with him. A sharp pain flashed through his body as his stomach wound started bleeding again. His body tensed and he yelled out because of the unexpected pain. Legolas looked down worriedly immediately and said: _"Goheno nin an sen, Estel"_ but then had to turn his attention back to his surroundings. **_(Forgive me for this, Estel)_**

A few moments later they entered a clearing. Though it was a small one, the other side of it could not be seen because of the grey rain curtain that fell down from the clouds.

Legolas' cloak had provided a bit of shelter from the rain and he had pulled it tight around him, so Aragorn would be protected for a part. Aragorn had his own cloak, but his feet and the lower part of his legs were left out and now almost soaked. And even their Elven-cloakes, no matter from what Elven-fabric they were made, could no longer stand up against such an amount of rain and their clothes had started to become wet too. Though the clearing was small, it definitely was an open space and without the little protection the trees had provided, they were left to the mercy of the cold rain. And as fast as the Elf was crossing the clearing, he could do nothing to stop them from getting soaked through and through. Not a single shred could be found that was still dry.

Legolas did not have much trouble with it, for Elves are not affected by warmth or cold. He only felt uneasy with the pulling of his now much heavier cape around his neck. But Aragorn felt the cold of the rain penetrate 'till deep in his body. The wind blowing past his body cooled the rain down and his fingers, toes and nose became numb. He started shivering, but he tried to suppress it, for the movement could distract Legolas' focus. The Elf's sensitiveness felt the trembling of the body in his arms and he quickened his pace a little bit more.

Aragorn's lips started to get blue and his teeth began to clicker. The blazing wind cooled him down too fast for his body to keep up.

_"Garo lim, Estel! Innam-no ennas lagor;_ Legolas yelled at the human. **_(Hang on, Estel! We will be there swiftly)._**

After passing the clearing, he turned north-east, ran past a thick bush with berries and then skidded to a halt. They had reached the cave…

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Oh boy, THIS is the longest chapter I've written. Yay me. The next one will come tomorrow, at least when I had some reviews by then. (Hint).


	11. Í alagos na gwaew a ross

WARNING: Once again not beta-ed, but as I said last time I want to get it out.

So, as promised the next chapter. This will most certainly be the last "sweet" chapter for a while. Angst for both will come up in the next posts.

**Here's to my reviewers:**

**Anastasia Who: My faithful reviewer, thanx for your as always kind review. You are quite right that Aragorn is in for a lot of trouble, but not yet this chapter. So stay tuned.**

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Chapter Nine

Í alagos na gwaew a ross…

Legolas listened intensely as he stood in the entrance of the cave, but he could hear nothing except for the wind, the falling of the rain and the rolling of the thunder that came closer.

_"I think we are lucky this time, Estel"_ he said to the young man, who was shivering in his arms, and laid him down in the middle of the cave. He pulled his bow of his back and notched an arrow to it. He carefully walked to the dark end of the cave to search for possible inhabitants, but there were none.

What he did find was a pile of wood and grass, which had been collected for fire. Legolas smiled as he remembered the times he and his brother had spent here. Before they left, they would always refill their wood supplies, so there would be enough if they'd return the next time. He hadn't been here in about hundred years, but apparently his brother had stayed here not to long ago, since the woodpile wasn't covered in to much dust.

He collected an armful of wood and made sure it wouldn't get wet because of his dripping hair and clothes. He walked back to Aragorn and laid the grass in a small heap on the ground and let a small spark land into it. After he blew in it the flame grew bigger, and after placing some branches into it, the flame became a nice fire. He pulled Aragorn as close to the fire as possible and started to take of Aragorn's wet clothes off, for they would make him sicker then when he wore nothing. He tried to do that as carefully as possible, but still Aragorn winced when he had to bend forward to remove his cloak.

Legolas undressed him quickly, until he wore only his undergarment. The Elf used the grass he had found to rub Aragorn dry and soon his skin was red and glowing. He threw more wood on to the fire and gentle warmth started to spread through the cave.

Aragorn started to feel drowsily due to the change of temperature and he yawned widely. Legolas, who was spreading out the man's clothes so they would dry, smiled and said: _"Sleep well, Estel"_. Aragorn's smile was barely visible and his eyes fluttered shut a few moments later.

The Elf looked at the Man, who looked so young and innocent in his sleep, and then walked to the back of the cave to collect the remaining pieces of wood. He frowned as he looked at the small amount and turned to look outside. The weather had not changed and though there was a lot of wood, it surely would not be enough to last throughout the whole storm. And the fire needed to stay on, for Aragorn needed the warmth to keep him healthy. Legolas sighed and pulled his wet cloak around him and his hood far down, hoping it would protect him a bit. At the entrance of the cave he looked back at the sleeping human and softly said: _"Im ú-innas boe anann. I'll just collect some wood for our fire."_ and he stepped outside.** (I will not need a long time.)**

The force of the wind hit him and he had to struggle to get forward. It wasn't difficult to find more wood; the storm had blown off a lot of branches from the trees. Under the protection of the dick foliage of the berrie bush not all of the branches had become totally soaked. He collected as many of them as he could carry and headed back to the cave. There he spread everything out around the fire, so they would dry enough to burn. He repeated his search many times, until the whole back-end of the cave was filled with branches which reached the ceiling. And during the whole time Aragorn hadn't moved.

Legolas removed his cloak from his back and unbraided his blonde hair. He bundled it all together in his hands and squeezed the water out of it, forming a small puddle of water on the ground. He shook his head vigorously, until all the moistly strands swung to his back. Then the Elf undressed himself to dry his clothes. Not that he would be affected by the damp clothes he wore, but wet clothes don't feel too comfortable.

Then he kneeled beside Aragorn to take a look at the wound that had caused the young man to moan. He cursed silently when he saw the red stain that had appeared on the white bandages. He hoped Aragorn was a deep sleeper and therefore wouldn't notice the changing of the bandages. The Elf heaved the Man's head into his lap, so his upper body would not touch the ground, to make it easier to unwrap the bandages. Fortunately the stomach-wound had almost stopped bleeding and the rain had washed away all of the dried blood around it. He took one of the rain soaked bandages and pressed it tightly against the wound. Aragorn stirred and moaned at the touch, but he didn't wake up. Soon the wound stopped to bleed and Legolas decided to leave it unwrapped for a while so it could dry.

Then he realised he had run out of bandages the last time he had wrapped the wound up with Aragorn's own shirt. He looked around and his gaze fell upon his clothes. He picked up his half-dry cloak and tried to rip the lower end off. But the cloak was made out of Mirkwood's finest material and it wouldn't tear, no matter how hard the Elf pulled. He got angry with himself for not being able to do it, but still no sound of the tearing of fabric could be heard. Finally, he gave up and threw the cloak away while shooting an angry look at it.

He stood up to throw some more wood on the fire and it spurted because of ht not fully dried branches, but, much to Legolas' relief, it kept burning.

And then, with a moment of hesitation, he tore his shirt apart. It was the only part of his clothes that revealed his status of Prince of Mirkwood, because of the characteristic embroidery. He tore it into strips and laid them close to the fire so they would be really dry if he put them around Aragorn's wound. Since he had enough bandages once again, he also unwrapped Aragorn's head bandages, which had become dirty.

Legolas sighed and placed himself besides the fire. He looked from the fire to the woodpile and from there to the storm which raged outside.

_I hope we have enough to make it through the storm; _he thought and he threw some more wood on the fire, while outside the rumbling of the thunder came closer and closer…

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**So that's it for now. How you liked it. I hope to have the next chapter ready by next weekend, but can't make any promises since I'm very busy at the moment.**

**Please be so kind and review!**__


	12. An unexpected guest

**A/N:**

**I'm going on a holiday for two weeks, but I wanted to post one last chapter before going so here it is. Reviewers will be thanked in the next chapter. **

Chapter Ten

An unwelcome guest …

Aragorn woke up because of an extremely heavy thunder blast. He blinked a few times when he saw the large piles of wood stocked around him in the flickering light of the slowly dying fire. He turned his head to his sides to look for Legolas, but he couldn't see him. _"Legolas, where are you?"_ he tried to say, but because of his dry throat, all that came out was a soft whisper that could not even be heard by an Elf above he noise of the rain.

He tried to reach for some branches, but before he could reach them he felt his stomach wound again. And since he didn't want it to open again, he then tried to push himself towards the branches, but he wasn't strong enough for that. He only managed to turn around slightly, but even that had exhausted him. He hadn't eaten since the attack two days ago and the large amounts of rain hadn't done him any good either.

Though his body was covered underneath two cloaks; his own and Legolas', which the Elf probably had laid on him while he was vast asleep; and he was near the fire, he still shivered. But though he felt very cold, his body was covered with a layer of sweat and his hair, which had dried because of the fire, now once again clung to his sweaty forehead.

A flash of lightening lit his surroundings, followed by the sound of an enormous crack nearby, that sounded even louder than the thunder that followed the lightening. He heard a large thud and he turned himself a little bit more aside so he would be facing the cave-entrance, in the hope he could find out what it was he had heard.

Another flash came and suddenly Aragorn saw the silhouette of an Elf standing in the entrance, almost outside. Just like Aragorn Legolas wore naught more than a pair of trousers and his perfectly shaped upper body glowed lightly in the dark with the light that is so typical for the Elves. His blonde hair was blown backwards every time the wind blew past the entrance and the thunderbolts' light gave it an unearthly silver glow.

Aragorn almost sighed with relief when he saw his companion hadn't left him during the time he slept. But then he started to wonder why this Silvan Elf would bother about his safety, he, a human; for he had heard rumors saying the King of Mirkwood wasn't to fond of the human race, especially when they entered his realm without permission. Elrond had asked permission for his youngest son Estel to enter the forest realm, but he "forgot" to mention the small detail about his son not being an Elf. _Ada has warned me about the attitude of the Mirkwood Elves towards humans, but the first one I meet saves my life and takes care of me. So maybe Ada was wrong and it were only rumors after all_, Aragorn thought, but he dismissed the last part almost immediately, for his foster-father was a wise Elf with great knowledge of all Elvenraces. _Maybe Legolas is just pretending to be kind and wants to keep me alive to bring to his King, so they can have fun with me and can cool their hatred upon me._ He shook his head, a bit scared of the direction his thoughts were heading to._ Nay, I'll just have to ask Legolas about his reasons and about the truth of the rumors. I'm sure he will say they're not true, won't he?_ Another shiver surged through his body, not only from cold this time, but also because of his previous thoughts. The doubled intensity of the shiver made his teeth chatter. At the same time the fire cracked loudly and the excellent hearing of Legolas picked up both sounds. He turned his head around and looked over his shoulder, only to be greeted with an insecure look out of Aragorn's eyes. The Elf walked back to the fire and threw some branches on it, when another flash lit the cave. Lit by a fell light from behind and a flickering one in front, the Elf's features were some what distorted and gave him an evil look. Though Aragorn knew the light was playing tricks with him, he unconsciously cringed when Legolas turned towards him. The Elf did not seem to notice the human's discomfort about his presence and he smiled lightheartedly at him. _"Are you finally awake, sleeping beauty?"_ Legolas asked teasingly; _"You missed all the fun!"_

The Elf's eyes shone with excitement and the tone of his voice gave way to this enthusiasm.

_"What fun?"_ Aragorn asked, slightly confused. He couldn't think of anything amusing about their situation.

Legolas' enthusiasm made him witch to his native tongue and he continued: _"The Storm, off course. You should have seen it raging. It splinted a tree in two and sent one part flying through the air, landing right in front of our cave. This is the most powerful storm I have seen for ages. Don't you like it? You can see it raging, but you're sheltered, nothing can harm you and you can simply enjoy it."_

Aragorn shrugged, he didn't care that much about the storm, but he would deny the Elf his fun, so he let him talking for a while…

**That's it for now, not as long as I wished but I couldn't find more time before leaving. Please review and I'll see you after my vacation.**


	13. Changing situations

**Gohena nin, mellyn nin. I'm so sorry it took me this long to post the next chapter, but not everything went just as I planned for the last couple of weeks. First I went two weeks to Scotland, but that was planned. But I forgot I had to move to my new room after that and that took me a good amount of my spare time, so no time to type. And the week after that (last week) I had an introduction at the university, so not much time either. And since I write in a notebook first and then type it out, that's almost the same as no time. **

**But now I'm back to stay!! I've written 3 new chapters during my vacation and one last week. So you'll have permanent updates once again, isn't that great? So don't kill me please? looks at reviewers with Puss-in-boots- eyes**

**Okay enough of my rambling, up to the review replies. As promised, first the reviewers for chapter 11:**

**Celebrean: No problem, you've done it now, haven't you. I had the same problem myself, nasty **

**Mornflower: Hello mellon nin, I'm glad you discovered it and liked it. Update wasn't that soon, but hope you like it anyways.**

**Anastasia Who: thanx for your as always kind review. A little angst, or more to say anger between them in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it, there's more to come. And thanx for your offer, mellon nin, but for now my beta is back on trail with beta-ing, but if she fails again, I'll immediately think of you.**

**Reviews for Chapter 12:**

**Jacquelinestel: thanx for your lovely review. It made me jumping of joy. :0 I know the update is very late this time, but I hope you'll enjoy this one as much as the last one.**

**Anastasia Who: Glad you like it, but as for trust in this chapter… Just read and you'll find out. And I had a lovely vacation, thanx. Mornflower: Not as soon as I got back, but as soon as I could. Hope you like it, mellon nin.Celebrean: I had wonderful vacation, how was yours? Anastasia Who: Legolas a good friend, in the last chapter, yes. But in this one… Please find out yourself ;) Sorry for the late update.Okay that's that! Now on with the story..**

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Chapter Eleven

Changing situations…

While Legolas uttered his love for the greatness of the winds of Manwë, Aragorn tried to stop shivering, but without much success. Another shiver ran through his spine and he crept deeper under the cloaks in the hope they would provide him some warmth.

The small movement caught the Elf's attention and his look of excitement was replaced by one of worry. _"Are you cold?"_ he asked and he placed one of his hands on Aragorn's forehead. The coolness of that touch soothed the burning heat for a few seconds, before the hand too was warmed up. _" I'm fine, really, you don't have to worry about me"_ the young Man stated before a more violent shiver took hold of him. Legolas shook his head with a smirking grin, despite the fact he realized what was wrong with Aragorn. He had heard about the touchiness of humans when it came too cold and wet weather and now he found out himself. The young man was having a fever…

_"You're not fine, you're sick. Your forehead is burning hot; while you are shivering from the cold, so don't tell me you feel fine!"_ Legolas said sternly; _"You'd better try and sleep some more while you can!"_

_"Yes, Naneth"_ Aragorn answered and the Elf couldn't help but smiling. (**Mother)**_"But it's nothing, really, I've felt this way before and I'm still here, aren't I?"_

_Oh yes, he had had this many times before when he was a young boy, _he thought;_ he had gone out on a hunt and then he would be surprised by the sudden change of weather, despite the fact his Ada had warned that it would happen. __The first times he just didn't believe him for it was beautiful weather when he was being warned. But when he grew up, he just felt like doing things his Ada disapproved and went out anyway, thinking he would be home before the change, but he somehow never managed to. And every time he had become sick…_

The first time that happened, whole of Elrond's household panicked, like Legolas did now; for they thought he was dying, for Elves don't get sick and most certainly not because of the weather. But as it happened more often, they learned that all they had to do was keep him warm and give him lots of fluids to drink. And he grew over his puberty and learned when it was time to seek shelter, so he wouldn't get sick.

But Legolas had no clue about all this and he felt very guilty and worried. When an Elf had such a hot forehead things were going the wrong way and therefore he just couldn't believe Estel was all right, as he claimed to be. _"But what way you put it, sleep is always a good thing when you're ill"_ Legolas insisted. _"I'm not sleepy,"_ Aragorn said, sounding very much like a young child.

Another, more violent shiver shook his body, while cold sweat broke out at the same time. He tried to swallow, but his tongue got stuck against his palate. Legolas noticed Aragorn's futile try and he stood up and walked to the entrance immediately. He folded his hands together as a cup and held them outside. The rain filled his little basin almost instantly and he hurried back towards Aragorn. He separated his fingers a little bit and tiny drops trickled down his hands towards the Man's mouth. The cool liquid slid smoothly down his dry tongue and refreshed him. But when he tried to swallow it, still lying on his back, he almost choked. The water fell into his windpipe and he started coughing violently. The Elf quickly raised Aragorn, who was gasping for air. After a few seconds, Aragorn could breath freely again and he filled his longs with clean air. _"What were you trying to do, drown me or something?"_ he blurted out, while he felt at his now even sorer throat.

Legolas chuckled a bit, when he heard Aragorn's exaggerated yell, but he stopped quickly when he looked at the very angry expression at the Man's face. The Elf quickly cast his eyes downwards, to avoid the angry glares he received, and he looked very much like a guilty Elfling at that moment to Aragorn. He knew in his heart the Elf hadn't meant to kill him, but because his fevered mind had changed all the happenings slightly, his anger, driven by his fear from a moment ago, got control over his reason. He heard Legolas say: _"Gohena nin, Estel. Ú-car thelin an naeg le", _but his angered mind chose not to respond.** (Forgive me/ I'm sorry Estel, I did not mean to pain you")**

A few moments later he felt the Elf's body stiffen underneath him and he was softly placed down onto his back again. The Elf moved stiffly, as to hide his anger, and he walked with straightened shoulders and his head held high proudly. As he turned around the other end of the fire, Aragorn caught a glimpse of the look on the Elf's face. It wore once again the icy and uncaring look of when they first had met…

_What does that human think;_ _does he really think I tried to kill him? Valar knows, I've had much more opportunities for that and with a lot more ease then in this manner. And first of all, I just could have left him there on that clearing to die!_

Legolas thought angrily; while he absentmindedly threw branch after branch on the fire, till it burned so high and with so much heat even the Elf had to take a few steps back.

_But just like when I found him, I can't leave him behind here. If there was a high chance then he'd die from his wounds, now that's almost certain with his fever added up. And I can't live with the thought of having killed someone by doing nothing._

He shot a swift glance at the shivering human, and nodded, as if deciding something.

_But if he doesn't trust me, I have no choice of doing the same. I can't be on friendly foot with someone who thins I'm a murdering Elf; who can't see a mistake as a mistake! I'll still do everything to help him, but I can't let him into my heart again, for if anything like this would happen again, I couldn't stand it. I will mend his wounds and take care of his needs and make sure he will be fine, but it will be nothing like I did now. I'll treat him like a nurse treats her unknown patient; devote my attention to the sickness and not to who the patient really is._

The Elf had expected to feel relieved after deciding it, but his feelings were mixed; he felt regret too.

_But it's for the best, really!!_ He tried to convince himself; _I was getting to friendly with this…human, and my father surely would disapprove. And besides, when he thinks of me as someone evil, I shouldn't let Estel… the human come even closer to me then I already did, I really shouldn't……_

Legolas broke a branch in two and the sharp sound echoed through the cave. Aragorn slightly tilted his head at this sound, but the fever distorted his senses more now and he didn't recognize sound or origin. He tried to moist his throat, but his mouth was just as dry as the part he tried to relieve. The useless movements made his throat tickle and he started coughing. Soon his whole body shook under the growing violence of the coughs. His breast heaved and he had to struggle once again to get some air before another cough pushed it out of his lungs. The Elf hurried round the fire and he swiftly supported the Man so he could regain his breath. He held up Aragorn by letting him with his head and shoulders against his bend knee, while his arms held Aragorn's body steady so the coughing fit would not affect his stomach wound. Soon, the combination of a dry throat combined with the coughing made sure Legolas' right bare arm; which held Aragorn's right side, was covered in tiny blood spatters, which also clung to the Man's lips and chin.

Legolas sat as stiffly and uncaring as he could manage, though he doubted Aragorn would notice the change at this moment and he tried not to look into the young Man's face, or more precisely, those curious grey eyes, which he was certain, were reflecting the pain the human was in.

After a few minutes, with the silence only disturbed by the sound of the coughs, the fit ceased. His chest heaved in a swift ritme, to take in the necessary, but painfully gulps of air. Shortly after that his breathing, though very painful, was returned to normal.

Legolas carefully placed Aragorn's head back onto the ground and then walked over to he had laid the torn strips of what used to be his shirt. He took one piece from the pile and the walked towards the entrance again, but now he held out the shred of garment, which was soon soaked. He placed in it one hand to prevent the water from dripping too much and walked back to the fire. He then lifted Aragorn's head up with his free hand while he placed himself behind him with his legs each on one side of the human. He maneuvered himself closer underneath the shoulders, so Aragorn's head would rest on the Elf's free, left arm. In his right hand he held the wet cloth and he slowly folded it together, so water streamed into Aragorn's eagerly opened mouth.

Aragorn's half-lying, half sitting position made sure he would not choke again, while Legolas had a hand free because of the cloth.

Aragorn drank thirstily of the water and Legolas had to make several trips to the entrance, before he had drank enough of it.

The coughing fit had exhausted Aragorn and with his thirst washed away, he soon sank into a deep, feverish sleep.

After Legolas had drunk something too, he looked to the weary Man who tossed and turned slightly in his sleep. _Water alone is not enough. His body needs food to fight this illness;_ he thought and he quickly remembered the berry-bushes not far from the cave. _That'll have to do it for now; in this weather even I won't be able to find anything better now._

He looked around for his cloak to put on, but then he realised it was turned into a blanket, so he had no other choice than to go outside with a bare chest. The thunder had moved further south, so he had only the rain to deal with; and that wouldn't bother him much when he would come back swiftly. He made sure the fire wouldn't go out while he was away and Aragorn really was asleep.

_"Go away!"_ he reprimanded himself. _"You would not do that anymore, he'll be fine. And besides, only a fool would go out in this weather and even if there's another fool like me; the chance of finding this cave is almost zero!"_

And with that he walked out of the cave…

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__

**That's it for this chapter. Pretty long isn't it? So please review, I promise the next chapter will be up next Sunday. Really. Promised. So please review?!**


	14. While you are sleeping

Aya everybody, I'm feeling pretty proud at the moment, since I'm delivering this chapter at the promised day. Yay me. I just came back from my introduction camp and I'm feeling pretty tired at the moment for sleeping wasn't really on the agenda, hehe. But since I promised I'd update today, I was determined to do it, so Yay me. Hehe.

Anyways, the first part of the story will leave our dear Elf and human alone for a few moments, but at the end we will return to Aragorn's misery again, hehe. So keep reading for the first part is more of an explanation for what's coming. Hope you'll like it.

Here's to my reviewers:

Mornflower: Thanx for your, uhm, review, hehe. Hope every thing turned out okay. And once again, Happy Birthday.

Anastasia Who: I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Not very much Legolas and Aragorn though, but plenty angst as will have the next chapter.

Rangergirl: Yay a new reviewer. Thanx a lot for your kind review, I'm glad you found my little story and like it. Hope you like this one too.

On to the story:

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Chapter Twelve

While you are sleeping…

While Legolas was picking berries for their meagre meal, he never suspected someone else would be out there, especially not that there would be a whole group wandering through the rain-curtained forest.

About 400 metres to the north-east of the cave a group of around the fifteen shadowy burst through the dense under-foliage, only to find themselves once again surrounded by familiar looking trees.

"We're walking in a goddamn circle!" One of the figures said in the Black Speech. Another answered in the same language; _How can you tell, these trees all look the same, you maggot!"_ The one who had spoken first slightly cringed when he heard the tone, but he felt the need to express himself. _"I really think we're lost somewhat, boss."_ He dared to say, while looking to the head of the group shyly. The largest one at the head immediately turned around, so swiftly that the ones who followed crashed into him. He pushed those unfortunates aside with a snarl and walked towards the one who had spoken. This one to shrink a bit with each step the other took and his eyes shifted back and forth from his surroundings to the approaching figure, as if looking for support from the others, or ways to escape. But before he could do anything, he stood eye in eye with his leader, who gave him a clear reply: _We're not lost, this is our forest remember?! It's just this damn rain that makes everything look the same!"_

With that he turned back around and his subject felt quite relieved, when he swung back and knocked him to the ground. _"And one thing! Don't call me 'boss', understood"_. The other nodded while scrambling back to his feet. _"Yes, okay boss, uhm …Zkarsak"_ he stuttered when he saw the look on the other's face.

While Zkarsak walked back to his place through his pack, which split before him as a rock splits the sea; he thought about what to do.

Though he didn't admit it, he didn't know exactly where they were. The rain had washed away all signs and clues and it had made him just as wet as the ground. He knew continuing his hunt made no sense. Seeking shelter would be his first priority now, but their old hideout behind the tangled trees of the clearing wasn't an option anymore. Not since that afternoon…

That pesky human, he has driven us out of our hiding place! He will pay for that, when I catch him. Zkarsak swore to himself, like he had done many times before. Ever since the fight with Aragorn he had been enraged, a blind fury took hold of him and he wanted to live it out on the Man.

When the orcs had started to fall around him, he soon noticed the Elven-arrows with their markings from the Royal Family. He knew about the hunting on orcs the young Princes did for fun and with them usually came the Royal Guards. He had decided he wasn't ready yet to die, even if he could kill the human in front of him first. He ordered the others to retreat, but he was glad to see one of them made the human go down, before being killed himself and falling on top of the unfortunate Man. The arrows kept flying and not many made it safely into the woods. Actually, he was one of the few who weren't hurt at all amongst his current group. They had gathered a few miles from the clearing, for going to their lair wasn't to bright with all those Elven-hunters in the neighbourhood.

After a long time, Zkarsak decided they safely could take a look and he sent out two orcs to do that, just in case. They returned swiftly, for they hadn't found what Zkarsak was looking for: the human, his prey, and his trophy. No human body was found between the piles of orcs. They had found his blood, but then his trail disappeared from the clearing. Zkarsak returned himself now and followed the scents. He smelled the human-scent combined with Elvish scents. He didn't know how many, but it smelled like two and they had taken the human. He had trailed their scent to their nightcamp and found out his prey wasn't dead yet. His anger rose to dangerously high levels and he ordered everyone to start the hunt. The orcs who protested he beat forward 'till no one dared to argue anymore. Until the rain had come, they had followed very well, but now all traces and scents were being washed away. That was five hours ago and now they were still searching for clues.

He turned to the 6 others who weren't injured either. _"You go out and search for a place we can stay in!" _A sigh of relief almost could be heard in the group of orcs. _"You two take the east, you two the north and you two the west. Come back immediately when you find something!!" _And with that he sent them off…

After a few minutes of walking, the two orcs heading west, unknowingly went in a straight line for the cave Aragorn was lying in though they approached it from the other side then where Legolas was picking berries. Normally the two orcs wouldn't have seen the perfectly hidden cave, especially not with this rainfall, but unfortunately the fire that saved Aragorn, now worked as a beacon. One of the orcs saw the light wavering through the rain and attended his companion. Though they didn't walk to quietly nor were trying to hide themselves, they walked past Legolas unnoticed, nor did they know he was there. The sizzling sound of the falling rain covered all other sounds and not even Legolas' keen hearing could detect them. The rain fell down so tight it limited far sight and because of their opposite directions they didn't see each other.

Aragorn had fallen into a deep feverish sleep before Legolas had left and his fever gave weird turns to his thoughts and made them into nightmares…

Elrond and Arwen were entering the cave in which he lay and looked round until they saw him lying on the ground next to the fire; wounded and sick. With worry written on their faces they hurried towards him. While Elrond checked his wounds, Arwen slapped Legolas, who had been next to him, in the face, while she yelled at him: "How dare you treat my beloved one like this, I'll get you for that."

The Mirkwood-Elf was stunned and stood nailed to his spot while Arwen hit him hysterically. The male Elf's face turned from utter disbelief and surprise to anger and he tried to grab Arwen's wrists. But before he could get a hold on her, she started to push him forwards with hard blows that made him stumble backwards to the entrance.

" Get out of here, you horrible Elf" she yelled at her blonde counterpart; " before you kill him" And with that, Legolas was pushed outside and suddenly disappeared.

Aragorn tried to protest, to tell them Legolas had saved him, but before he could do so, Elrond placed his hand on Aragorn's mouth. "Don't speak or scream, for it won't do you any good" he said while he stood up slowly. "You are for us now, we will take care of you."

He and Arwen smiled at Aragorn, who looked at his foster-father puzzled because of the strange choice of words; but there was nothing pleasant about those smiles.

His eyes turned wide with shock as the evil smiles upon their faces grew broader and the figures of his family slowly turned into the hurled forms of two orcs…

Aragorn squeezed his eyes shut tightly so he did not have to see it all happening and then he slowly became aware of his surroundings again. He heard the sounds of the cracking fire and the pouring down of the rain, which he hadn't noticed before and then he realised his foolishness. It had only been a bad dream.

The tension in his body slowly subsided and the feeling of fear left him almost completely. He slowly opened his eyes, fully expecting to look into the worried blue orbs of Legolas.

But when his eyes had adjusted to the light that suddenly caught them, his fear came back at lightening speed.

For in front of him, with evil and expecting grins on their faces, stood two large orcs…

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Uhoh, Aragorn's in trouble, hehe. Nasty me, making a cliffie. Next chapter will be up next Sunday, so till then. For now, please review, for I was posting on time. So please review. Tell me what you think of this turn in the story, I'd love to know.


	15. A painful introduction

**Warning: Some very ugly torture here. So if you can't handel it, don't read. slaps herself Uhm do read it, because other wise you wouldn't read the whole chapter, hehe.**

**Anyway you can blame my trip for school to a pig slaughtery for the way the torture is done here. Most things I've seen are now happening to Aragorn, so it's just writng away my impressions. So don't blame me.**

**To my reviewers:**

**Mornflower: Thanx a lot, mellon nin, for your sweet review. I'm glad you liked it that much. A lot of torture in this one, hope you like that too.**

**Celebrean: Thanx for your funny review, it made me laugh a lot. And don't worry. I know Aragorn is getting a lot of it now, but I promise you I have some nasty things in store for our dear Elf too. He won't get away that easy. And besides, he's with Aragorn, so that's means trouble anyway, hehehe. So stay tuned and your wish comes through.**

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Chapter Thirteen

A painful introduction

Aragorn stared in shock at the two evil creatures in front of him, what they seemed to find rather amusing. _"Not happy to see us, dear boy?"_ The left one hissed and took a step closer to the lying Man, while he unsheathed his black sword.

From the moment he had opened his eyes, Aragorn's fevered mind became even more bewildered and his thoughts were racing through his head, many without making sense. But he one thought that kept coming back to him was:_ "Where is Legolas, why isn't he here to help me?" _He pondered about the several possibilities there were for the Elf's disappearance and he didn't seem to notice the approaching orc. Only the sound of the unsheathing of the sword shot him back into reality.

Aragorn's eyes blinked rapidly, as to try to shut out the horrible scene in front of him. The orc's sword, made of scratched silvery metal with black edges from all the dried blood on it, landed non-to softly on Aragorn's throat, causing a few blood droplets to trickle down along his neck to the stony floor of the cave. Panic rushed through his system and his breath came in swift puffs, while the orc pushed his sword slowly further down into the soft tissue of his neck. Aragorn closed his eyes and prayed:_" Oh Valar, let it be swift"; _when to his disbelief the pressure on his neck subsided in an instant.

He cracked his eyes open and saw that the second orc had pulled back the other one and was now discussing with him.

"_Don't kill him yet, Ashgûr,"_ the second one said warningly, speaking in Westron deliberately, so their captive would understand every word they said._ "Back off, Ukorsh!!" _Ashgûr snarled, bloodlust evident in his eyes, and he tried to break free._ "He's mine, I found him first and a finder can keep what he found!"_

"_You mindless earthworm, "_Ukorsh yelled back and he raised his own sword; _"have you forgotten what Zkarsak said: Report immediately when you find something?"_

"_No I haven't" _Ashgûr answered with a wicked smile towards Aragorn; _"but he didn't say anything about leaving it alone, or not touching or harming it, now did he? So why can't we have a little fun with him before we tell Zkarsak. He's hurt already; a few wounds more or less wouldn't make that much difference. And you know too, when Zkarsak gets him, he wants him fir himself and we won't be allowed to do anything except watching!"_

The two still stood against each other, but something in Ukorsh's behaviour had changed. Though he tried to hide it, he was too now enjoying the promise of some unspoiled fun Ashgûr was suggesting. And besides, Zkarsak did indeed not mention hurting anything. And their leader did not know how heavily wounded the human he was tracking, was. So he surely wouldn't find out if they inflicted him some more wounds. He squinted his eyes and turned to the human. He lowered his sword and Ashgûr now too turned around.

Aragorn, who had had a small flame of hope building up inside him during the conflict, now felt as if that flame was poured out by a bucket of ice water.

He knew he that what he was expecting wasn't even near the truth of what would happen and the shivers that were running down his spine weren't just because of his illness. He felt terrified, as he had never felt before. Usually when he encountered orcs, he was carrying a weapon and he most certainly wasn't lying on the ground, unable to move. He looked up to see death in the eyes of the orcs; his death.......

Ashgûr pulled away the two cloaks covering Aragorn and the chillness of the air wrapped itself around his bare chest. His hair rose up on his body in protest and his teeth started to chatter.

The two orcs laughed cruelly and came even closer to him._" Is our dear little boy cold? Don't worry, you'll be warm in no time at all." _Ashgûr said and the madness seemed to be radiating from his body in large waves. He turned to the woodpile, grabbed a thick branch and held one end of it in the fire, till it started burning. He pulled it out again and blew out the flames, so the black end of the stick would be seething hot but not burning up.

The orc brought the hot end down to the point where the sword had been a few minutes before and Aragorn reacted immediately by pulling his head aside with a swift tug. But there was no escaping it, for he was unable to move very far away. The point crept closer and closer and soon he felt the pain of high temperatures near his skin. He knew what was coming and he promised himself he would not give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream_. He would fight them to the last heartbeat without screaming out! _In a last desperate attempt to avoid the stick being pressed against his throat, he jerked his head and upperbody aside, so his head was in an 80-degree angle with his legs. But off course, his stomach wound wasn't healed enough to endure such a treatment and the tissue tore apart once again and started bleeding.

Ukorsh, who had been watching with a delighted smile, noticed the crimson pool of blood forming beside the human. _"Not even started and now already in so much pain"_ he laughed as he dipped his fingers in the blood welling up from the wound and licked them off. Aragorn almost jerked his body away once again, but decide in the same second he should not show his fear to these creatures._ " I'm not afraid of you, you creep. And I'm not in pain, you could never make me!"_ Aragorn tried to say with as steady a voice as he could manage at this moment. Ukorsh laughed mockingly, for he had heard the wavering tone and he had felt the movement of Aragorn's body underneath his fingers. _"This wound is not perfectly mended, my friend"_ the orc said with a deceivingly sweet voice, but a look in his eyes showed his madness. _"Let me find out what is wrong with it"_

And with that he pushed his fingers inside Aragorn's stomach wound and started probing around.

Aragorn's body stiffened immediately and he curved his back against the bolts of pain that raced through his body. He gritted his teeth tightly together so his screams would not escape him.

The fingers dug deeper into his body and he held his breath to stop another scream, making only a soft moaning sound instead of it. Ashgûr smiled with delight at the scene in front of him. He kneeled down and put his hands next to Ukorsh's, doubling the pain.

Aragorn's breathing came in laboured puffs and his breath stopped every time a new wave of pain hit him. The pain swirled around the edges of his vision and black dots danced in front of his eyes. He felt unconsciousness tugging at him and he gladly welcomed it. His sight slowly went black and he became a bit numb, but then suddenly the pain stopped... and his sight returned slowly as he inhaled deeply. He felt himself being lifted and being carried away, into the rain with his head.

"_Legolas?"_ he mumbled questioningly, but the coldness of the rain brought him to full consciousness and he looked up into the face of Ashgûr. _"You're not leaving us that fast, that would spoil our fun."_ The orc said as he dropped him near the fire once again.

"_You can't leave us already. Your wound must be taken care off, it won't stop bleeding and that could kill you. That would leave us no work to do."_ Ukorsh stated as he held a new branch into the fire making sure Aragorn would see his every move. He held up the still burning stick and brought it towards the bleeding wound. If the heat was too much near Aragorn's neck, it was almost unbearable near his open wound. He tried to move away, but Ashgûr held him to his place. With a swift movement he kicked towards the branch, sending it flying to the fire. Ashgûr growled and backhanded him while Ukorsh grabbed a new branch and repeated the treatment. _"Hold still. Bleeding wound must be burned close!"_ he said before he placed the burning end of the branch without hesitation on the edge of the stomach wound. Being warned before the happening Aragorn was able to hold his scream in once again, but the moan that escaped was very explaining too.

Meanwhile Ukorsh had taken two new branches and set them a fire too. And now, with the smell of his own burning flesh in his nose that made him gag and the two new branches heading for his wound; he lost consciousness swiftly.

His slip into unconsciousness made him lose control over his will and when the two branches landed on him, he screamed out loudly. He heard the piercing sound echoing through the cave, making Ashgûr back away from his head; before the world around him went black and he lost all knowledge of time...

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**That's it for now. See ya next time to find out what happens to Aragorn next. Please review, I love that.**


	16. Picking berries

**Hello folksies, I know I'm once again late, but I have a weird case of a writer's block. I so totally know how to move on with the story, but I just don't seem to be able to get in down on paper the way I want it. So this is kind of an inbetweener, thanx to my new reviewer, **_Galadriel evenstar,_** you do get a chapter, for she asked where Legolas was. It's certainly not the best, because I couldn't get this down right too, so please give me suggestions about how I could say it better. Hope you like the chapter anyway and I really hope that this stupid block is leaving before next Sunday, because then the story will continue...**

**Maybe I too have got a plotbunny and it wants to have dinner, so review a lot, maybe it will work.**

**Here's to my reviewers:**

**Mornflower: I sorry mellon nin, that I scared you. Mhuhahahaha. Uhm ...ya okay. Anyway, I gave Aragorn a little rest this chapter, but next one he will be back, hehe. And then you might find out how he's doing.**

**Galadriel Evenstar: Yay, a new reviewer. Glad you read my little story. And you know, this chapter is fully dedicated to your review, for that gave me the idea. Hope you're satisfied with the answer to your question.**

**Anastasia Who: Yes, I know, mean me, hehehe. Glad you liked them mean me anyway. And if you read this chapter you are sure to know if Legolas heard the scream, hehehe.****Glad you saw the last update and that read it anyway.**

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Chapter Fourteen 

Picking berries

When Legolas stepped out of the cave, the wind immediately swirled around him, sending his golden hair flying through the air. But after a few steps outside, the wind had to try very hard to move it around, for the rain had soaked him once again.

He turned left, heading for the berry-bushes, when he walked past a spot where the undergrowth was extremely dense, because of a plant, which carried large leaves. The Elf decided to take some of those, to use as a wrap to carry the berries in, for normally the Elves used those particular leaves to pack in Lembas.

With the leaves in his hands he swiftly continued his way to the bushes, which he reached soon, for they weren't too far away from the cave. He folded the leaves together, so they would form a small basket when placed on the ground and he dropped the picked berries in them. Once one was filled he folded the upper part of the leaves, so the berries were neatly wrapped. He then took some long and strong strands of grass, with which he bound the packages to prevent the berries from falling out.

When he was filling the third package, suddenly a feeling of alarm came over him. The hairs on the back of his neck shot straight up and inside him the feeling of approaching danger grew quickly stronger. He stretched out as tall as he could and carefully scanned the area with both eyes and ears. Though he could see and hear much better than humans under difficult circumstances, even he could not see more than a few metres and all he heard was the falling of the rain on the forest ground.

But the fact he could not detect anything at the moment and that the feeling slowly diminished till it was nothing more than a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, did not mean he would let it pass that easily. That the feeling subsided usually meant the danger was moving away from him, but he was eager to know in which direction.

The mountain, in which the cave was situated, stretched out about 1000 metres to the right side of the cave and low and high peaks and weird rock formations, created by erosion throughout the years dominated its surface.

Legolas nimbly climbed the rock wall, until he was at about the same height as the trees, in hopes he might have a better look from there as to what was making him worry. But all he could see in front of him were the grey rain clouds and the rain itself and nothing moved underneath that.

He turned his gaze towards his right, in the direction of the cave he had left Aragorn in. The sky stretched out behind the mountain-mass showed another picture than the grey storm colour of its surroundings. Amidst the rain-curtains one small spot shone with a heavenly glow of the sun, which had managed to suppress the rain in that spot. Its golden beams coloured the treetops a few shades of green lighter, reflecting in the many tiny raindrops clinging to the leaves.

Legolas couldn't pull his gaze away from the beautiful scene in front of him. He felt his love for his forest overwhelm him and with the sounds of the rain in his ears and his gaze fixed upon the wavering, softly golden streams of gold from the sky; he totally felt at ease. He felt peaceful and thankful for what he had and he forgot about the world around him for a while, totally absorbed and cut of from his surroundings...

...until a piercing scream echoed through the forest and he almost fell of the mountain-peak because of his unawareness. He almost jumped down and raced towards the cave.

_How could he have forgotten about Aragorn for so long...?_

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**Oh my goodness, a whole chapter about Legolas and nothing about our poor Aragorn. Hehe, mean me. But I promise next chapter he will be back, so don't worry. Or maybe you should for he's not doing to well, whuhahaha.**

**Never mind, please review so I know what to do with him next. See ya all next chapter.**


	17. Edraith i aur

**I'm so extremely sorry. Please don't kill me!! I know I'm terribly late with the update, but I just was too busy the last two weeks. Two weeks ago I wrote this chapter on paper, but I couldn't find the time to type it out. And last week I was every day up at 6am and I was busy till 11pm, so no time there. And all I could think of in the weekend was sleep and rests whenever I could, so no spare time there too. **

**I never would have thought going to University would take away so much of my time, but it definitely does. Writing the chapters is not so much the problem, but getting them typed down is a way larger one. So I don't think I can promise you weekly updates anymore, I'll try, that's for sure, but it won't always work out right. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but I'm a very busy girl at the moment. I hope you won't bail out on me when it will take a bit longer for me to post. I do the best I can at the moment.**

**Here's to my reviewers, who are hopefully still here:**

**Anastasia Who: I'm you like the chapter. I quite agree, he indeed needs a moment of piece, especially for what is waiting for him...; 0. About Aragorn's health is all I say; in the end he'll probably live, hehe.**

**Galadriel evenstar: backs away from computer when reading your review Yikes, and I thought I was being sick when I was torturing Aragorn, you're even begging for tortures, creepy you. ;) Loved your ideas though, and though not yet in this chapter, you will see some of them sorta return in the following, and keep the ideas coming, there always appreciated.**

**Viggomaniac: Welcome new reviewer. Glad you like my story. I know, it's so true what you're saying, but he it's just because he looks at his best while covered in dirt and blood and all. And because we torture him, we can make him better too, and that's always nice to do isn't it? We're back at the Ranger now, but he's not quite back into the world yet, hope you like the chapter anyway.**

**Mornflower: Mellon nin! I loved to read I made you almost scream, that must mean you like my story, hehe... I thought you're review was really funny and yeah, I know exactly what you were thinking about...sigh**

**Jacquelinestel: You read three in one? Wow, that must have given you squared eyes...LOL. Glad you like it that much though, and thanx for your support.**

**Shadowed Flames: Another new reviewer, thanx for your...um... comment. I hope you stick with us.**

**Well that's it for me talking, on with the chapter you have been waiting for, for far too long...**

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Chapter Fifteen

Edraith i aur...

While Legolas jumped of rocks to get of the mountain and to the ground, the two orcs looked at each other with the smallest hint of fear in their eyes. The sound of Aragorn's unearthly scream still echoed in their ears and they dared not to come close for a moment.

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Ashgûr, who had been sitting near Aragorn's head, slowly raised and walked over to Ushkor, who still had the edges of the branches locked onto the wound. Ashgûr, who retaken himself, slapped Ushkor, pulling him out of his reverie. The orc immediately reacted by heaving the branches towards Ashgûr, tearing some pieces of blackened skin with them.

"_This is not good!"_ Ashgûr stated and Ushkor stared at him, a bit unsure of what he meant. _"Maybe we should get back to Zkarsak and tell him what we found. Tell him that we found his prey, but that it had blooded to dead. That'll stop his search and then we won't get blamed for it. You go back and tell him! One of us must stay here to watch the cave"_

Ushkor growled and swung his fist towards the other orc, who easily ducted the aim. _"Why don't you be brave and tell him?!"_ Ashgûr smiled evilly, fully recovered from the earlier happenings. _"Because I'm not the one who killed our leader's trophy!"_ Ushkor swore loudly, but could not think of anything to say that would make the statement lesser true. He turned around, glaring daggers at his companion, who was making fun of him, and walked out of the cave...

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When he had reached the ground again, Legolas raced towards the cave, while his thoughts went just as fast. _I've forgotten about the injured human. How could I have left him alone so long, when I know these woods are full of danger for those unknown here and those unable to protect themselves? And at the moment Estel is both!_

The Elf ran past the berry-bushes and the completely forgotten food packages he had made earlier this afternoon. He rounded the turn towards the cave entrance when a heard a sound from inside it. He stopped dead in his tracks, when he realised what the sound meant: _Orcs laughing in the same cave as Estel is in. And orcs never laugh until they get to hurt someone..._

He hesitated for a second, for going in could mean giving his life for the Man. _But I have no choice, it my fault the orcs are there in the first place, I have to, even if it would risk my live. I couldn't live with myself if I wouldn't go in..._

He made a movement to step forward, when the sound of footsteps coming his way, came from the cave. He reached to his back to get his weapons ready, but he grabbed into thin air. He quickly realised that he had left them in the cave with Estel for "_"only a fool would go out in this weather and even if there's another fool like me; the chance of finding this cave is almost zero!""._

He silently cursed himself for being such an idiot and withdrew himself in a tree, right before Ushkor walked out of the cave, looking profoundly angry.

The second Legolas knew the orc would not be able to see or hear him anymore; he jumped out of the tree, eager to get to Estel, though he feared the worst. In his rush of fear the Elf felt towards his forsaken plight towards the young Man, he could think of nothing else then to get to the human's aide immediately and he forgot everything he had learned as a warrior. He dashed into the cave without checking who was in it...

Ashgûr was still facing the entrance, the same grin still present on his face, when Legolas flew into the cave and slid to a halt after a few inches; when he saw the orc standing.

Both faces reflected the other's look of surprise, but both being warriors, they got over it in almost the same instant. Ashgûr pulled out his daggers, equipped with small barbs and glistening with some kind of liquid; knowing his sword would not be of much use since the Elf was out of its range.

Legolas at the same time almost once again made the movement for his weapons, but realising there still wouldn't be any, he scanned the cave for them. He found them at the back of the cave, right where he had left them. He shot a look at his opponent, who had drawn his daggers and rather stood in his path towards the weapons.

Ashgûr smiled, knowing he had found another toy to play with and that he wouldn't have to haste. He stepped aside, giving Legolas a better look at Aragorn. _"Looking for this? Not very smart of you, Elf, to come and look for a dead human. Looking for your own dead to, eh? Why don't you turn around and run away, tree-hugger? Go back to your kingy in his sweet little palace."_ he said tauntingly, knowing the Elf would never lower himself so much by leaving a battle with an orc.

Legolas tried not to look at the body of the human, but his gaze was being pulled towards the still form non-the less. He had to hold back a shout of anger and horror when he saw the damage inflicted to the human's stomach. He quickly averted his eyes, for what he saw was making him sick. He looked up to the orc coolly; his face almost cut out from marble.

But Ashgûr had seen the disgust in the Elf's eyes and wasn't impressed by that at all; he merely smiled back.

Legolas took a few steps to his left, so that he ended up at the left side of the cave. _"Do you really think you're able to take me on?"_ he asked, trying to enrage the orc to a state where he would be making mistakes, _"You couldn't even kill a weak and wounded human on your own!"_ He stretched out to his full length, fully spreading his royal air, and looked at the orc as if he were nothing more then a small earthworm of no meaning. Not many could withstand that look for long, most backed away from the ice that penetrated from those eyes and the not so clever ones exploded of anger, which mostly got him into trouble when he shot that look towards his enemies. And it worked once again...

Ashgûr, who had turned along with the Elf, soon seeded with rage, _"You think I can't kill you? Watch this!"_ He lifted his right arm and threw the danger towards the smirking Elf. The movement hadn't been hard to predict for Legolas and so he easily dove out of its way, landing on the ground a few metres ahead to his right and he rolled over to stop his speed. He stayed down, still crouched on that same spot, much closer to the orc than before. He clasped his right arm and adopted a look of pain...

Ashgûr smiled contentedly. _"Not so full of ourselves now, are we Elf?"_ He got no answer except another wave of pain flashing across the porcelain features, what delighted the orc more than words could have done. He drew out his sword, the same that had been at Aragorn's throat and walked over to the crouched Elf, who didn't move a muscle.

Legolas had to try very hard to keep his contemptuous smile replacing his look of pain, because of the ease with which he was able to fool the foul creature. He waited until the orc was a few inches away from being able to touch him with his sword, before he jumped up and sprinted past the surprised orc to the back of the cave, towards his weapons...

The movement was so unexpected and swift that Ashgûr saw nothing more than a blur of blond hair flying past him. He took a few dazed steps backwards, towards Aragorn, and turned around to see where the Elf had gone, only to find himself looking at the point of an arrow being pointed towards him. Fear started slowly to spread through him at this change of roles and he took a few steps aside, but he couldn't escape the arrow that flew towards him and imbedded itself in his right chest. Ashgûr almost toppled over at the pain of the impact and took some unsteady steps to the left, ending up at Aragorn's feet.

He looked up and what his eyes saw chilled him more than the cold spreading out form his shoulder...

The fire of rage burned in the otherwise cold eyes of the Elf, while he notched a second arrow to his bow, aimed at the orcs heart. Ashgûr knew this was going to be his ending and there was nothing to be done about it...

But at the same moment a soft moan sounded through the cave and the look of pure hatred in Legolas' eyes changed to disbelief and then happiness. Despite his battle training, he turned his head towards Estel, the point of his arrow slightly dipping towards the ground, almost forgotten for a while. And so was Ashgûr, who quickly took advantage of the short lack of attention of the Elf. He pushed away the thoughts of pain and raised his left hand. _How ironic is it that the Man I thought I had killed, now is saving my life? _He thought, before he swiftly and silently threw his last dagger towards the distracted Elf.

Legolas, tough visibly unaware of it, sensed some threat coming towards him and looked up to see a dagger flying towards him. He quickly reacted, but not quickly enough. Though it missed his heart, the dagger embedded itself in his left arm, with such force its tip came out on the other side...

The pain knocked him down to the ground and stole his breath away. He doubled over and clasped his fingers around the wound, soon feeling the blood, his blood, trickling down them. His vision was blurred and he had to perform a great effort to raise his head so he could see his surroundings.

Ashgûr, too, was having trouble. The arrow in his chest had gone straight through one of his ribs and every movement hurt him. He leaned on his sword and for a moment both opponents rested from their wounding.

But the orc's hatred was much stronger than the pain he felt. He raised his sword, determined to end the immortal life of the Elf and once again, the life of the human. He decided to start with the human, for he was closer to him and that way he would pain the Elf even more. But he didn't know about Legolas' feeling of guilt that he was once again going to fail the one who had trusted him.

The Elf took a deep breath and slowly stretched his left arm, making sure not to alert the orc before he had been able to spot his aim. He took a deep breath and cleared his sight. Then he pushed himself up, pulled back the string and sent the arrow flying to its mark; the heart of the orc.

And despite Legolas' wound the arrow hit it clearly, the orc never knew what really happened to him and he fell straightforward into the fire.

After he had released the arrow, Legolas sunk back to the ground and rested his head against the pile of wood, exhausted. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger and tried to pull it out of his arm, but because of the barbs, all he managed to do was snap the blade at the point it entered his arm. Angrily he threw the hilt in a corner and turned his head slightly to look at the cause of all his problems and pain, only to find them looking back at him with painfilled eyes. _"Quite a couple are we, aren't we?" _the human whispered. Legolas shook his head, amused, while Aragorn smiled at him sheepishly. _"I thought you were gone..." _Legolas felt a pang of guilt when Aragorn said that and he cast his eyes downwards. He opened his mouth to apologise, but before he could speak, Aragorn continued, _"but I'm glad you were back in time, mellon nin"_. Legolas' head snapped up, stunned by the words "mellon nin" coming out of the mouth of the one he failed. Aragorn smiled at him happily, not knowing what the Elf was thinking and slumbered back into unconsciousness.

Legolas sighed and he forced himself to get up. They had to get out of the cave before the second orc would come back...

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**Well, that's it for this chapter. It was an extra long one; hope that made up for some of the wait you guys had to endure. I'll try to update as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything. Anyways please review, I love them. They make me feel that my work is appreciated.**

**So despite the fact I was horribly late with the update, please please review.**


	18. Edra

**YOOHOO…hoo..**hoo. **Anybody there?? … there…re. Hello…loo…loo.**

**Yikes, that sounds kinda empty. I'm back!!! Suddenly angry readers come around corners with all kinds of torture devises DON'T HURT ME!!? Then I can't update anymore.**

**I'm really sorry for this extremely, terribly late update. At first I once again had kinda a writers block. It took me awhile to figure out where the hell my muses where taking me, for the original plans went down a very different path and the end of that would definitely not find in anymore, so I had to think of a new road to follow. I found it during watching a football match, for crying out loud, can you imagine that? LOL :)**

**But the problem was that that was a few days before I started with learning for my midterms.**

**You know if there's one thing worse than having a writer's block, is having your muses assault you with all kinds of new ideas, BUT YOU HAVE NOW TIME TO WRITE THEM DOWN! Grmbl…stupid midterms.**

**But yay, now there over!! Yippee. So that means time to write again and with inspiration. Aren't you glad now? Hehe? :)**

**I hope these reviewers are still there, but first the responses:**

**Jacquelinestel****: I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but at least now you're eyes could get back to their original state..lol.**

**Mornflower****: Thanx for the review, mellon nin. I'm glad everything turned out alright for you.**

**Galadriel evenstar: yes, torture is really nice, whuhahaha. Glad you liked it. I don't think the twins will appear in this story, but please don't let that keep you from reading. Who knows where this story might go to under control of my weird thoughts, hehe.**

**I hope I didn't miss anyone, because I had some trouble finding the reviews back after this long time..lol. If so I'm really sorry, and now I appreciated yours just as much.**

**Now on to the story we go!!**

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Chapter Sixteen 

Edra…?

When Legolas finally had pushed himself into a standing position, he swayed dangerously and the inner part of ht cave seemed to move too. He stretched his hand out towards the wall and steadied himself against it until everything looked normal again. He cursed himself inwardly for his weakness when he only sustained such a minor wound compared to Estel. He walked over to the cloth-heap and took one strip of it. He tied it around his arm, above his wound, fastening it tightly, to stop the blood loss as much as possible.

He then grabbed some more and rebound Aragorn's stomach, though he doubted they were needed. Though cruel as the orc's burning trick was, for the wound it proved to be good. It had been closed and it would take a lot of movement to once again tear it open.

He thought about waking the human, but finally decided that would take too much time and bring all the pain back. He spread the two cloaks over Aragorn's body and once again lifted him up in his arms, after extinguishing the fire. Once outside the cave he looked around carefully and then turned left, choosing the opposite direction of which the orc had chosen; as not to run into it.

The downpour of the rain had slowly diminished during the time of the fight and now the sky showed its bluish-grey cloak that comes after heavy rainfall. The sun shyly had started to shine, sending its first hesitating beams towards the soaked forest.

First, all there was to hear was the clear sound of falling droplets from the leaves, but soon the forest crept back to life after the washing. Birds started to sing, and soon the four-legged creatures were brave enough to leave their hide-outs.

Legolas smiled as he listened to the sounds of his forest, that at least at this moment it still resembled Greenwood the Great, and not the dark parts of it, full of evil, which had given his homeland the name of Mirkwood.

He slightly shifted the dead weight of Aragorn's body to a different position, making it rest on his right arm more, because his wounded left one was protesting against the strain put on it. He once again set course towards the Royal Palace, knowing they still had quite a journey to make before they reached it.

He restlessly hauled Aragorn up again, trying to relieve his arm. He knew he had to do something about the wound; at least pull out the blade, but he also knew Estel had to get to a Healer as quick as possible, so he just ignored the pain.

Suddenly his Elven-ears picked up an enraged shout, even for him barely audible, since he had moved away from the direction of the sound, the cave, with great haste.

Legolas started laughing as he pictured the look on the face of the screaming orc, who instead of a half-dead human, found a very dead orc. The melodically sound of the Elf's laughter danced through the air and the trees rustled their leaves, as if to agree with the joy of their Prince.

Though it was buried deep down inside his body, the clear tones even reached Aragorn's pained mind and pulled him back to consciousness.

He moaned as he came back to existence, as did the memories of the past events. He panicked when he felt the hold of strong arms around him and he started to fight against it, startling the Elf. Aragorn's left knee connected with Legolas' left arm and the Elf hissed in pain, and almost let the human slip. Legolas immediately cradled the young Man closer to his chest and said soothingly: "S_îdh, Estel, ha no maer. Nach edra si. Daro maetho nin! **(Peace, Estel, it is good/okay. You're save now. Stop fighting me!)**_

He kept repeating those words, until they finally penetrated the fevered and frantic mind and Aragorn understood them. The tight body in his arms relaxed and the eyelids slowly parted to reveal two dazed grey eyes. After blinking a few times the haze withdrew itself and realization dawned.

Legolas smiled reassuringly and was rewarded with a shy grin from the human, who looked very young at that moment. _"Sorry I fought against you; I thought you were an orc for a moment."_ Legolas cocked an eyebrow at these words;_ "I have been named many names before, but this is a new one"_ he teased. Aragorn grinned mischievously; _"But you do look like one from my point-of-view. I only see your head through a blur, but what I do see clear is all the dirt on it!"_ He chuckled when he saw the pretended look of anger on his companion's face, whose twinkling eyes contradicted that look and his words;_ "Look who's talking, you are all bloody and muddy and you dare say **I** look like an orc?"_

Aragorn's chuckle change into laughter whose volume rose and soon the forest had to listen to deep sound of human laughter. His body shook once again in the Elf's arms, but this time from laughter.

Legolas snorted undignified and muttered: _"Humans!", _only causing to intensify Aragorn's laughter, until tears streamed down his cheeks.

The Elf shook his head, he couldn't really find out why a _slightly_ dirty Elf would be so extremely funny. Besides, it gave him the feeling of being laughed _at_, a feeling his pride didn't enjoy really much.

Aragorn couldn't really explain why he laughed _this_ hard too, but he just couldn't stop. He needed to laugh, to drive away those images from his mind, the pain he felt; knowing it was his flesh made him go insane. He was complete under the control of his laughter, but it scared away all other thoughts, all feelings, so he let himself be overtaken…

When he was finally able to stop, every muscle in his body hurt even more and his head pounded even harder; but he was feeling strangely relieved. He had laughed out the screams that had been trapped inside his body and mind, unable to be uttered during the meeting of flesh and fire.

He blinked away the few tears that were left behind in his eyes and finally noticed he was lying on the damp ground of the forest, instead of in the arms of the Elf.

_He probably laid me down during my laughing-hysteria;_ the Man thought and he looked around for the slim form of his companion. He had to scrunch his eyes to slits to focus his gaze to find the Elf, who seamlessly blended in with the surrounding forest.

He finally found Legolas, leaning with his back against a tree, both hands tightly pushed against the sides of it, his head backwards with closed eyes, his skin just as pale, if not paler, then the birch he leaned against…

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**Well that's it for now, not really that long, I know, but all I could come up with right now. Hope the next one will be longer, and I hope to have it up next weekend. Sorry for any mistakes, it's not beta-ed and typed in a rather hastily state.**

**For now, a happy St. Nicolas today, hope you get many nice presents. :)**

**Ps: I saw The Calcium Kid last night. It was rather weird in a not funny way. Really sad, the bloopers were the funniest of the whole film, not good. But ****Orlando**** made up for a lot of it, hehe. sigh, deep sigh He looked really sweet and lovely and all, so not bad to watch after all … LOL. **

**Anyways, please review, for I love to get them. Please give them to me as Saint Nic's presents?!**


	19. Presta tolo

**Whee** **only two days over time. Yay me, hehe. ;) And you know why I'm late? Because I was really busy watching the Extended Edition of ROTK!!!!! I got it for Saint Nicolas, he rules!!! :) So now I'm a very happy girl and I hope you are too, because I updated!!! ****LOL.**

**Here****'s to my loyal reviewers:**

**Jacquelinestel**** and wackoranger: Thanx for the present, but I'm afraid you've got one tiny thingy wrong. When I said Saint Nic's, I did not mean Santa Claus, so not yet Merry Christmas. Saint Nicolas is something we celebrate on the 5th of December, he used to be an Archbishop who lived in ****Turkey**** and gave presents and all to the kiddos there and the how he became a Saint. I think our weird little country is the only one who celebrates it, so I can't blame you for not knowing. I found out later that St. Nick's is Santa Claus too, so my mistake to write that down. Anyways I felt I should explain that to you, but my, this is now a very long reply. Oh that rhymes, I'm still in the St. Nic's mood, hehe. LOL. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter too, and already thanx for the pressie, please give me another one after reading this chapter, hehehe.**

**Mornflower****: LOL. Yep, I kinda think that makes it better, hehe. But no worry there will be some nice and nasty torture coming up if that's more of your likings, whuhahaha. ;)**

**Galadriel evenstar: Yepyep, a wounded Legsie, how sad, hehe. Unfortunately for him (and maybe for you than too) it's slowly going downhill for him from now on, whuahahha. :) LOL! Hope you still keep reading, 'cause for now I've still got a happy ending planned. ;) For now, that is, hehe ;)**

**On to the chapter; the first one in the row that will not be so pleasant for our dear Elf and Ranger, hehe.**** Evil me**

Oh yes, once again not beta-ed, she is still far behind with beta-ing and I want to post, so I'll replace the old ones with the beta-ed ones. So all mistakes are on my account, not on that of my beta.

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Chapter Seventeen 

Presta tolo…

* * *

_" Legolas__" _Aragorn called, trying to get the attention of the pale Elf. He called again, a little louder this time, and the Elf's eyes flew open, searching the ground until they rested upon the human. He then pushed himself forwards from the tree and walked towards Aragorn. 

_"Are you all right, Legolas? You look like…" "Yes, I know, I look like an orc, really funny, but I'm fine!" _Legolas interrupted, with a tinge of anger in his voice; _" And__ how are you? Done laughing?"_ he added, _" You__ laughed so loud that even those deaf orcs_ _could have heard you"_

Aragorn smiled sheepishly; _"I am okay now, it won't happen again."_

Legolas cocked an eyebrow at that, but said nothing about it. He bent forward and picked Aragorn up again. But when he straightened again, the same dizziness from a few moments ago attacked him once more. It wasn't the shaking that had made him lay down the human; it was the dizziness that had almost made him drop Aragorn. His legs had been unable to support his body and he had had to use the tree for it, which it had gladly given, worry for its Prince shaking the leaves. _Thankfully _the Elf thought,_ Estel was too wrapped up in himself to notice it. I can't let him know, he needs me. If I don't get him home, who will? I don't really know why I am going through this much trouble for him, but he has something that makes me want to help him, to keep him safe. It feels like somehow we are connected…_

He had hoped it would go away, but apparently it hadn't.

He waited a few seconds, before walking, waiting for the dizziness to pass, hoping Estel again wouldn't notice…

_" You're__ not fine, what's wrong?" _Aragorn said, his inquisitive voice shattering that hope…

_" I__ AM fine, Estel, I was just adjusting my balance to your bodyweight."_ Legolas quickly lied, grunting inwardly about the perceptiveness of the sick human. _" Come__ on, we've got to get you to a Healer."_ he continued, putting on a cheerful mask.

Aragorn said nothing, but his suspicious gaze never left the Elf's face, searching for a sign of trouble, forcing Legolas to look happy and healthy all the time.

They continued their journey silently and in a slightly slower pace; both lost in their own thoughts. Their journey seemed to go well and Legolas showed no more signs of the dizziness, and Aragorn's worry lessened. _Maybe I just imagined it and there is really nothing wrong with him. Maybe my fever has played tricks with me again. But his feelings told himhe was right, something was wrong, though Legolas tried his hardest to hide that. He had grown fond of his savior, even thought the Elf had not shown a lot of himself to the human; he felt save with him, protected. He felt he could trust upon the Elf, and that the Elf started to trust him too, though they had still a long way to go. He could see through the mask of ice Legolas wore and he saw loneliness and pain. He vowed that he would break down that wall, no matter how long it would take him…!_

He looked up to the face of the Elf and relaxed a bit, until, half an hour after the last sign of it; Legolas stumbled and fell to his knees.

_" Tell__ me what is wrong, you stubborn Elf!"_ Aragorn yelled at him, after he had recovered from the shock. _" It's__ nothing" _the Elf replied half-heartedly, trying to fight of the wave of dizziness._" I ducked a branch and I placed my foot wrongly and so I stumbled. That's all!"_

Aragorn opened his mouth to tell the Elf not to be silly, after all he had grown up surrounded bythe ever gracious Elves, even in the most difficult situations; when he saw Legolas' head shoot up, listening to sounds the young Man could not hear.

_" We__ have to go now! The trees are warning us. The orcs have picked up our trail again, I can hear them!"_ Legolas swiftly stood up, ignoring the dizziness and started running, though the world spun around him…

* * *

**Yikes, this chapter was not as long as I thought it would be. But don't kill me for that, please, for I'll try to make the next one longer again and if you kill me, I can't. Wow, what a logic, isn't it. LOL**

**Poor dizzy Legsie, hehe, why would they do that to you. Oh wait I wrote that, yeah, so, anyways…**

**Please. Please, please review. Saes?! I just love to get them, it makes me want to write sooner than without them. Hint, Hint **

**So you push the button in the left corner, yep that purple-y one, and than I will push the button of the DVD-player; to continue with the ROTK EE!!! **

**Till**** the next update.**


	20. Noro

**Hello Folksies, you're about to read the chapter of a very happy writer, namely me, he he. ;) This story has reached the 50 reviews!!!!! Hurrah!!!! And the great person who hit the mark was: slow drum roll, then deadly silence: _Mornflower_!!!! Hurrah for her! **

**Hands over some cookies and flowers, and bows. Thank you very much, mellon nin. And off course also a lot of thanks to all the others who reviewed, because Mornflower alone wouldn't have come to the 50 ;).**

**Uhm yes, I know, late update, but uh, I was pretty sick the first part of last week. Yep, poor me…LOL. But now I'm all up and running again, so no worries anymore ;)**

**Now on to my dear reviewers who made the 50!:**

**Jacquelinestel and wackoranger****: Yes, really lucky me.**** Waves EE in front of your nose; see, nice EE, my EE, my precious, hehe...LOL I hope your Spanish exam went okay. And here you go, the next chappie for you!**

**Anonymous reviewer: ****Sorry about that mistake, I immediately changed it. But you know, English is not my native tongue, so sometimes I don't exactly know all the right meanings of the words, but I try to do it as good as I can. Glad you're enjoying my story, welcome to the club, hehe ;) Well, it's not that big as you can see…LOL. Update probably not soon enough, eh? And please, when you keep reading it, could you perhaps give me a name, instead of anonymous. That's much more fun than "Mr. or Ms Anonymous" ;)**

**Deana: ****Yep, poor Legolas indeed. And I'm afraid that he will be even poorer in the next few chappies, starting this one, mhuahhaha…LOL **

**Mornflower:**** Hmm, little problem here. Logic strictly forbidden, eh? You see, logic makes me say you're my 50th reviewer, but since you don't want logic, I have to be illogic and give that honor to someone else…LOL**

**Yep, orcs, some orcs in this chapter too. I'm sure evil you will appreciate that, hehe.**

**Galadriel Evenstar: ****Well yes, a happy ENDING, but for the next few chapters tings will only get worse, whuahahuah. But I'll put some happiness in them for you ;)**

**KeshieShimmer:**** Glad you're enjoying my story, that's on of the reasons why I write it. Another lucky girl with RotK EE and its wonderful extra's. Already found the Easter eggs, especially the first one is hilarious****. I really don't know if Calcium Kid is on sale in the ****US****, since I don't live there, I'll ask the others for you, okay? Bad movie, uhm, well, if you like documentary stile movies then I guess you'll love it. But otherwise do as I did: buy it only to see the lovely ****Orlando**** and it's definitely worth its money…LOL. Here, here for the ****Orlando**** girls! A Merry Christmas to you too.**

**Yikes, I don't know whether it's good or bad, but this A/N is taking up on whole page! Oh by the way, do any of you know if The Calcium Kid is for sale in the States. That's a question I got and I don't know since I don't live there, so. I you know the answer, just tell me and I'll tell it to her. Thanx.**

**WARNING: These notes are written at Sunday night, or should I say Monday morning, so I can't guarantee the sanity of some answers. ;)**

Once again, not beta-ed.

**Now, on to the story, everything between the two bars is a flashback and the dialogue spoken in itis Elvish unless stated otherwise. Enjoy! **

* * *

Chapter Eighteen 

Noro…

* * *

Pounding… 

Pounding was all he could hear. The pounding in his head fell together in a sickeningly rhythm with the movements of the world that spun around him and the nauseating movements of his stomach. He could not really tell whether the pounding was coming from the outside of his head, caused by resounding orc-feet or from the inside…

He was having troubles to see the road ahead of him clearly and he only managed to detect obstacles at the very last moment, what resulted in strained tries to avoid them, making him run through the forest like an unguided projectile.

He knew he had to seek shelter instead of keeping running like a Madman. He knew that at this speed one real misstep could cause a serious problem, not only for him, but also for the young Man in his arms.

His vision had narrowed to a small beam in which he could have seen clearly, if it weren't for the fact the stones seemed to switch places every second and the trees seemed to move their positions whenever he looked around.

His legs started to feel heavy and he could hardly get in enough oxygen to stay on his feet and keep running

His arms were pained from the added weight of Estel and his left arm felt like it had taken over his system with pain. Hot bolts of flaming pain shot out from his wound, licking their way up to his shoulder and down to his fingers. Every time one of these flames reached his head, the world spun around, the opposite direction of were it went the last time, making it spin into each other in sharp and bright colors, waving intricate patrons of what used to be his homeland…

His muscles were stretched to the limit and felt like any movement could cause them to snap.

Little droplets of water dripped into his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. Confused that it had started raining again he shook his head, but to no avail, the water kept coming and the world spun a faster round again. A little streamed into his wide opened mouth and with a start he realized it tasted salty; he was sweating…At first he had trouble to think what was bad about that until it dawned him that Elves don't usually sweat.

His chest heaved with every painful and hard step and his lungs felt like they would explode any minute, but still he did not receive the amount of oxygen that was needed to live.

His mind could not stop reciting the same rhythm over and over again: Run…Run…Run…

Fear had slowly seeped into his system, a fear that went much deeper than his current situation. He did not know how close the orcs were behind him right now, or if they even _were_ behind him at all at the moment. But his fear did not concern this moment. His flight for the orcs brought back some well hidden memories and those were the reason he kept running, running as he once had done before…

* * *

_"Tiro, Nana, tiro!"_ the young Elfling exclaimed, running towards his mother. **(Look, mama, look).**

His small hands were folded together around something, which he carefully clutched against his chest. Elenath looked up with a small smile to see her eldest son racing towards her, crashing through the underbrush of the path she walked on. _"Man no raeg, Legolas?"_ she asked attentively, checking over her son to see if he was harmed in any kind of way. **(What is wrong, Legolas?)**

Legolas held up his hands and slightly opened them, revealing a small bird, its feathers still wet and messy. Elenath looked at her son's shining delightful face and softly sighed. Ever since they had left the Palace this morning, he been dashing away from her, only to return with some animal he had found and wanted to bring home with them. For now she still had been able to withstand the begging look on his little face, by reminding herself how many animals were already packed up inside the Royal Stables. Everyone in the Palace was aware of Legolas' love for animals and the love the animals had for him. When you combined that with the fact hardly anyone could resist the begging Elfling, and you had the explanation for the overfull stables.

The had walked through the forest now for many hours and Legolas had come up with 3 baby-foxes, a dozen rabbits and numerous birds, which had to be brought back to their families. Therefore the journey she had planned for this day had already been altered so many times she had decided just to give it up. She would just be grateful for the time she had alone with her eldest. His younger brother, born a few years ago, had been left under the care of Thranduil.

_"Man carnim trenoro le, Legolas?"_ She affectionately ruffled his long golden hair, the same color as her husbands'. The young Prince ducked her hands and giggled, trying to look slightly ashamed. _"E garn dannen eduin galad, Nana"_ he said, _"And I am too small to put it back in the nest." "Well, my little leaf, shall we bring it back to its mother together then? I'm sure she misses him already"_

Legolas sighed sadly, but walked back to the direction he had come from none the less, closely followed by Elenath.

While she listened to the chatter of the Elfling, who had already changed into his cheerful self again, she amazed herself about the fact that Legolas had covered such a long distance in that small amount of time he had been away from her. She felt the warmth of the sun in her face and smelled the fresh breeze of the forest; and slowly her thoughts drifted away.

She had no idea how long they had walked when she felt a small tug on her hand. She looked down into the uncertain eyes of her son and smiled fondly. Legolas immediately smiled back and pointed to a large tree. _"This was the tree, Nana"_ It did not take her long to find the birds nest hidden in the branches and she carefully placed the tiny bird back. They listened to the happy chirps that emitted from the tree for a while, until suddenly Elenath realized that that was the only sound she heard, the forest had become very silent. Fear and anger for her own foolishness crept into her heart as she quietly ordered Legolas to stay close to her. She listened carefully to their surroundings and soon she heard the sounds she had been afraid to hear: Orc voices, their footsteps sounding loud to her Elven-ears, coming their way.

_"Listen carefully now, Legolas, we are going to run back to the Palace. You run as fast as you can, do you hear me? Do you understand? Just keep running!"_ The young Elf nodded, confused by his mother's behavior and the slight hint of fear he heard in her voice. He started running as he felt a little push in his back and he heard his mother behind him doing the same.

The two Elves ran through the forest as if they were one with it, two shadows; one blond and one dark. But how silent they had been, the orcs had detected them and started pursued. Nearing the Palace, Elenath looked back to see where the orcs were and that proved fatal. She tripped and fell. Legolas heard his mother fall and stopped to look at her, seeing the orcs coming up behind her. The young Elf froze, his gaze fixed upon those horrid creatures. Elenath, trying to scramble up from the ground, yelled at her son in panic when she saw him standing in her front of him. _"No Legolas, go!! Run, my son. Run!!! Don't stop!! Run!! I'll be coming soon, now go! RUN!!!"_

Taking one desperate look at his mother, Legolas turned and fled, her words haunting him; echoing in his head…

* * *

_Noro, ion nin. Noro!!! Caro ú-daur!! NORO!!..._

Aragorn yelled in panic, trying to stop the Elf: _"_ _Daro, Legolas, daro! Saes, daro!"_ but to no avail.** (Stop, Legolas, stop! Please, stop!)**

All the Elf heard was Run, and Don't stop, and he heed those words, drowning out Aragorn's cries.

He blindly ran through, ducking imaginary branches, while he neglected the existing ones. One particularly thick branch hit the Elf on the side of his face, causing a long bleeding gash to appear. But it also managed to unstablelise him to such an extend that he stumbled to the side, straight towards a small, but steep cliff…

* * *

**Uhoh, trouble ahead!! A cliffie at the end of a cliff, hehe ;) I know, not much Aragorn in this one. He was at first but when I reread it, it didn't feel good so I cut him out. Cruel me ;).**

**The first part of the chapter was exactly how I felt last week, nope not nice no. Well maybe not exactly, since I wasn't running around that is, because, yeah, I was sick...**** And when I wrote that part I felt sick again, just from reliving it, poor me…LOL. Hope I didn't make you sick. **

**Anyways that's it for today or tonight, whatever you wish to call it, since I'm really rambling at the moment and that's bad, that's bad…**

**So, till the next update. I'll try to make one last update before the end of this year (whee, sounds cool, doesn't it) but I can't promise anything.**

**So a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year in case I don't update anymore.**

**And now, to get to the one-hundred-reviews, you must push that button on the lower left corner. So push, push it. Yep there you go. ;)**


	21. Dad i amon

**Finally, I know, I really sorry for the once again terribly long wait, but school has been a real pain these few weeks. I have two papers to deliver next week, but I wanted to update today since I wanted to give you a present on my birthday…**

**So here you go:**

**Reviewer's responses:**

**Mornflower: ah yes, the cookies for your fiftieth review…looks at box in her hand with something that used to be a box with cookies, but now has become a culture ground for all kinds of ..things Right, definitely been too long, hehe. Runs to store to get some new ones So we've got chocolate cookies, anything you want, so pick your choice ;)**

**Ah yes, Aragorn and falling of cliffs. Well, see I for myself had thought this: Since he was going to be king at the last part of his life and be very happy with it and with Arwen and all, I decided that the Valar decided he had to have a lot of misery in the first part of his life to deserve happiness in the last part. So that includes falling of cliffs, being tortured by almost every being he encounters and ended up being wounded the most….LOL. ;)**

**KeshieShimmer: Love all new ways to kill Legsie's mom, eh? Yep sounds weird, but I so totally get what you mean, hehe. And the Easter eggs, yep they are on all the extended editions. You can find them in the scene selection menus.**

**Deana: Well, here it is. Chapter 21, a little late but I hope you still like it.**

**Chichiri's Wanderer: Yes, indeed damn cliffie. Here's your update ;)**

**Jaquelinestel and wackoranger: Yes, little Legolas was really sweet indeed, but the older one isn't too bad either, now is he?..LOL. More Aragorn in this one, so enjoy.**

Once again, not beta-ed…

**And now on to the long awaited chapter:**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen 

Dad i amon…

* * *

Only focusing on the pale face of Legolas, on the scarily haunted look in his eyes, trying to call him back from his frantic state; Aragorn never noticed where they were heading to until it was too late… 

The moment the branch hit the Elf hadn't gone unnoticed by him, nor the stumbling and staggering afterwards, but he couldn't take his eyes away, hoping to see the normal looks of the Elf return. And they did…

Frightened, haunted blue eyes blinked a few times, soon revealing the bright blue orbs of the Elf, normal as before. Aragorn smiled and sighed relieved, but his relief was wiped away when Legolas' eyes grew wide with fear and shock once again. He felt the Elf's muscles tense, the slim body leaning backwards, trying to stop the frighteningly high speed in a few seconds.

The slender feet slipped and slid over the moist grass, trying to get a firm grip on the ground, but to no avail. Aragorn, realising the panic of Legolas came from a different source than before, finally turned his head, then almost hoping he hadn't when he saw the ground disappear a few inches before the Elf's feet.

In a last attempt to save them from falling, Legolas let himself fall backwards, but the ground underneath his feet already crumbled and his forward momentum drove them over the edge. Legolas tried to shove Aragorn back up while he fell, but the human clung to the Elf in fear, grasping him tightly as if to stay anchored to the ground somehow. But no attempts they made, made any difference. They were falling, or rather, rolling down the steep slope, with an ever-increasing speed.

The slope was covered in slippery mud, laced with rocks of different sizes, scattered branches and the stump of what was once a noble tree, attached to its former upper part by only a few strings of bark. The rainfall from earlier had caused an avalanche of soaked dirt that shoved down the slope, destroying everything on its path. One particularly large boulder had smashed into the lonely tree that had been able to grow there, tearing it in half.

And down that slope they now went…

Rolling and skidding down soon rendered them covered entirely in mud, making their grip on each other become more and more slippery. Legolas, after another turn once again on his back, came in contact with a rock sticking out of the mud, with his side. The Elf hissed in pain and for a few seconds his grip on the human loosened entirely. Another bump and without the Elf to hold him, Aragorn didn't have enough grip himself and when they rolled over again they were separated…

Legolas tried to get up, but even the Elf couldn't escape the pull of the mud that held him down. To busy with his attempts to get up, he failed to look where he was heading for and clamber out of the way of it. He did try though, but it made him roll horizontally down the slope, unable to stop the movement or his direction.

He slammed into the stump with his stomach, his arms and legs, not stopped by anything, curled around it, making the force of impact even larger. The air was painfully forced out of his lungs and coloured spots danced in front of his darkened vision.

Because the stump wasn't too high, the left side of his body was forced forward by his speed, flying over it, propelling the rest of his body behind it, landing on his back on the trunk, forcing the recently recovered air out of his lungs for the second time, finally making him pass out as he skidded down the trunk for a few metres because of his speed. His limp body had to hang in the branches before his body lay finally still…

Aragorn tried to grab onto the tree, but his hands had no hold on the equally muddy branches, until he finally grabbed to branches at a time and his body stopped with a shock. He pulled himself up on the branches, but unfortunately the few strings left couldn't take the combined weight of both Elf and Man and snapped.

Aragorn uttered some Elvish phrases even his twin brothers would have been ashamed off as he rolled down the last part of the slope, only this time followed by a trunk with an unconscious Elf on top of it.

The ground came too soon for his liking and he didn't enjoy his reconnection with solid ground at all, though afterwards he realised all he had were scratches and bruises, though lots of them.

Legolas, on the other hand, wasn't that lucky. He lay perfectly still, covered now by the tree, instead of lying upon it.

Aragorn closed his eyes and tried to relax his breathing, in order to stop the nausea and dizziness his still spinning organs gave him.

But his nausea swiftly increased instead when he heard the sounds of heavy objects coming down the same route they had taken seconds before…

* * *

**Short, I know, really short, but since it's my birthday I hadn't got much time for a longer one, so you'll have to do with it for now. I hope the next chapter to be out sometime at the end of next week, since it's already half written.**

**For now, Review please, I love those things, they make me happy. And don't you all want me to be happy? ;) LOL.**


	22. Rocks, or?

**I'm finally back and I'm really sorry about the almost unbelievably long delay. I noticed the last chapter I posted was at my birthday and that's now 4 months ago. But I have been pretty sick for a way to long time and now I'm still trying to catch up with all the schoolwork that has to be done, so basically all I do is go to school, make homework, eat and sleep..LOL**

**Thankfully I had a few days off this week, so I figured this time was as good as any to bring out a new chapter. Luckily I had already written half off it so that wasn't to hard thankfully.**

**Life finally has settled a little and I hope reality will leave me alone for a while...LOL**

**So I will not bug you any longer, but I do hope you all know how unbelievable sorry I am for the wait.**

**Now the review responses:**

**Mornflower: Thank you for the Elvish choir you gathered for my birthday, it made me ****feel very special, hehe. But after hearing the same song over and over ****again, I decided I'd teach them some new songs…LOL ****And yes, I surely know what you mean about life getting in the way, this ****chapter is proof of that. ;)**

**Jacquelinestel and wackoranger: Glad you liked the last chapter :) Beating up Estel, ah ****yes, all I say is: just wait for the next chapter, ****whuhahauhau…LOL**

**Deana: Thanx, I'm glad you liked the chapter. But unfortunately for them, it's not ****debris falling on them, you'll see this chapter ;)**

**Chichiri's Wanderer: yes, cliffies, I'm sorry they just seem to sneak into this story, and ****I'm really sorry for the last one, since I didn't update after that.**

**Anastasia Who: No problem mellon, I'm glad you're back to review and read now. And ****let's face it, I haven't updated in a while too now, so no problem at all.**

**KeshieShimmer: Yes indeed the worst luck ever, but no worries, they will make it home. ****Eventually…LOL**

**katquest2000: Thanks for your concern, it felt really good. And yes it was half written, ****to my regrets I got too sick to write it further. But here, with lots of delay it finally is.**

Not beta-ed, so be warned for any mistakes.

**Once again, really sorry for the delay, but here it is, (drum rolls) , the next chapter **

* * *

Chapter Twenty 

Rocks, or….?

* * *

Finding his comrades hadn't been the hardest thing to do for Ushkor, after he had walked out of the cave, cursing Ashgûr, who had the heart to send him to meet the ire of Zkarsak. 

But, luckily for him, his leader had already vented most of his anger on the other scouts, who hadn't been able to find any shelter. When Ushkor broke through the undergrowth, every single orc turned towards him, weapon at the ready, growling at the intruder, until they realized it was one of their own.

_"What?"_ Zkarsak spat, angry to have been surprised like that by a subordinate.

_"We have found shelter, and it had a little surprise to come with it"_ Ushkor answered. Zkarsak eyed him suspiciously and hit him when he didn't tell soon enough. _"It was a little surprise on two legs, but not walking anymore"_ Ushkor said cryptically, enjoying the power he had over his leader. Zkarsak's eyes lit up with a thirst for blood as he realized what the orc was talking about.

_"Show me to him, so I can teach him not to run away from me"_ Zkarsak said, already walking in the direction Ushkor had come from, _"I will show him the meaning of pain!"_.

Zkarsak burst out into a maniacal laughter and Ushkor had to swallow some fear away when he thought about the possible reaction to what he was about to tell.

_"Uhm, boss?"_, he started, only to be rewarded by a fierce glare from his "boss", who grabbed his arm and pushed him forward. _"Show me!"_

Ushkor obeyed, meanwhile wondering how to bring the news without being killed, until he realized something,_ Why would I tell him_, he thought, _when we get there and he sees the body, I'll tell him that the human must have died while I was away, and if he happens to see the new wounds, I can easily put the blame on Ashgûr, who was alone with him all the time, and that I haven't seen the wounds before. Either way, I won't be the one to be blamed!_

He smiled wickedly and quickened his pace…

Upon reaching the cave, a foul stench (even for the orcs), assaulted their nostrils. Soon they started complaining to their leader about his choice of shelter, though they made carefully sure not to address to him in person. _"Stop complaining, you sound like a bunch of Elves!"_ Zkarsak growled at them and they slowly obeyed, sending angry glares in the direction of the cave and their leader's back.

Zkarsak barely noticed the smell. He had pushed aside all of his thoughts, except for one: _Now I will have him, my prize, my trophy! I will show that human not to fool with orcs, and especially not with me!"_

He stepped into the cave, almost happy with the prospect he projected in his mind, but his mood quickly changed when he realized the cave was empty. Well, almost empty at least, if it weren't for the black, disfigured object that lay in the middle of it, spreading the hideous smell.

Crying out in anger, Zkarsak raced back outside, his gaze searching the one who had falsely raised his hopes. All orcs backed away after taking one look at Zkarsak's twisted face and tried to get out of his path, but there was no escape for Ushkor...

Zkarsak grabbed the other orc at his throat and kicked his feet away from underneath him, sending him crashing to the ground. Ushkor tried to get back up, but Zkarsak unsheathed Ushkor's sword and slammed it through his chest, effectively pinning the orc to the ground. _"Where is he?"_ Zkarsak demanded, growling with anger, _"What did you do to him? WHERE IS MY TROPHY!"_

_"I…I…I"_ Ushkor stuttered, not having enough air to breath and speak at the same time. The blood from his pierced aorta filled his ruptured lungs, chocking him. The in madness twisted features of his leader in front of him; he coughed one last time, thick drops of blood landing on Zkarsak's face. And than he was dead, drowning with solid ground underneath him…

Zkarsak wiped away the blood, his anger now back to it's normal level, his thoughts once again solely focused on getting his prize, who had managed to get away from him twice now. He walked back into the cave, searching for clues. His gaze rested on the burned corpse for a second before it drifted towards a pool of red liquid left behind it. He knelt beside it and dipped a finger in it before smelling at it.

_So you are pretty wounded, aren't you human? Then, how did you kill an orc and manage to escape?_ , the orc thought.

He looked around the cave, thoroughly scanning every inch of it, but found nothing. His gaze returned to the pool of blood when something at the back of the cave caught his attention. He walked over to it, only to find the hilt of an orc-blade, covered in blood too. But this blood seemed different than the pool of blood. It seemed to have a glow of some sort, as if it reflected the light.

The orc smiled knowingly and dipped his finger in this blood too, than licking of his fingers, relishing the taste of his enemy's blood.

_So you had some help from one of the Elvenprinces once again, my prey, but that won't be long, I promise you_. He grinned wickedly as he looked at the black liquid that dripped from the hilt, mixed with the Elvenblood. _Not long, no!_

He stepped back outside and looked at his troop. He pointed to three of them, who seemed to want to disappear in thin air as his finger went their way. _"You three, clean up the mess inside!"_ The three looked at their leader angry, but dared not to complain about the order. But after Zkarsak's next words, they cheered, as did the other orcs. _"For we will be having guests soon!"_

All the orcs, except the three on cleaning duty, swiftly followed Zkarsak as he started of again, sniffing in the air as they went to keep track on the scent of Elvenblood that hung in the air…

The track they followed by scent, could sometimes be seen on the ground too. Carrying the human made the normally light-footed Elf heavier and sometimes light footprints could be detected, enough for the orcs to know they were heading the right way.

Nearing the place Legolas leaned against the three exhausted, the stronger smell of both human and Elf made the orc's quicken their pace.

_"So close, so close",_ Zkarsak mumbled to himself, but somehow the hunted had known they were closing in, for the resting spot, though filled with the scent and sight of the delicious blood, was empty.

Growling in frustration, the orcs quickened their pace even more, sensing they were close. They ran at full speed now, not caring if the Elf heard them. They ran past a bloodied branch and directly after skidded to a halt in front of a steep hill. They looked down, careful not to fall over, and saw the ones they had hunted lying still at the foot of it. And before the other orcs knew what happened, Zkarsak started going downwards too, determined to find out if the human was still alive enough to have some fun with. The other orcs soon followed, not wanting the same fate as Ushkor for not obeying…

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Aragorn had closed his eyes and tried to relax his breathing, in order to stop the nausea and dizziness his still spinning organs gave him. 

But his nausea swiftly increased instead when he heard the sounds of heavy objects coming down the same route they had taken seconds before…

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**I know, this chapter is probably not what you wanted, I know you wanted one about Legolas and Estel, but I had already planned this, but I can understand the disappointment after such a long time waiting to get this as a result. But next one, the two will be back, and I can at least promise that you won't have to wait another 4 months for that...LOL**

**About the orcs getting to them, not my fault. I asked my friend Brenda what I should do and she said, and I quote: Make the bad guys get them before they are rescued, so blame her for this chapter. shoves Brenda in front of her to act as shield**

**About the line, "so close, so close", that's a quote too, one I heard last night and I unconsciously used it. I was said by a football player from the Dutch club AZ after the lost their chance at the Champions League finals in the very last second. Thought I'd mention it…LOL**

**Oh and cookies for the one that finds the line from Pirates of the ****Caribbean**** in this one.**

**Please review, even if it is to shout at me for the delay. Reviews make me write faster and you all want a new chapter soon, now don't you...LOL**


	23. A second meeting

**I don't know where to start with appologizing for the unbelievably long time it took me to write another chapter. Real life got me in a strangle-hold and I managed to escape it during this holiday, hopefully without having to go through such a period again. :) I hope you **

**I would really like to thank those of you who kicked my butt, trying to make me write again and it helped. It's been a long time since the last update so there will be no replies to the reviews, but I would like to thank all of you anyway.**

**So thank you all very muchfor reviewing: _Anastasia Who, Aya-Shoru, Carrie, Elven Kitten,Malou, Mornflower, NatalieakaGothVamp, Nietta, katquest2000, KeshieShimmer, Persephone of Peridot._**

**Lots of thanks for my beta, Natalie, too, who has a very busy life of her own. Thanks mellon.**

**Oh yes: -------------------- means there is a change of point-a-view in the story, just so you know.**

**Now, without more delay: the next chapter! **

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Chapter Twenty-One

A second meeting...

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Aragorn slowly opened his eyes, waiting until the treetops at the line of his vision stopped swaying wildly. He directed his gaze towards the origin of the sounds of something coming down the slope. He blinked and then closed his eyes again as he realized what he saw. He rubbed his eyes and head in the hope that he had hit his head too hard upon landing. But after opening his eyes for the second time the same disturbing sight still greeted him: several orcs descending towards them. He swiftly, but carefully sat up straight and debated his plan of action.

The way he looked at it, there were two options for actions he could make. Alright, he could think of four, but lying around, waiting for the orcs to grab him and no doubt kill him after a lot of torture wasn't really his favorite option. Nor was the one where he would run away as fast as he could and leave the unconscious Elf at their mercy, hoping they would be too busy killing Legolas to come after him.

So that left him with two options. One was they both ran away, but unconscious people don't run that fast and he couldn't carry the Elf, or get him out from under that tree, for his condition wasn't great at the moment, so there wasn't much hope to outrun the fast approaching orcs.

Which left him with the second option: fighting, trying to protect both the Elf's and his own life; hoping the Elf would wake up soon. That plan wasn't that waterproof either, but it was the best option at the moment.

He quickly crawled over to Legolas, shaking the Elf's shoulder, but no reaction came. His hand went to his waist, but his hand closed around thin air. He looked down, only to see his waist was deprived of his sword. He looked around for his sword, spotting it a couple of meters away from his position near the Elf, the leather belt with the sheath tore in two. His gaze swerved to the descending orcs to see they had already crossed 3/4 of the slope.

They were too close for him to go and grab his sword and be back in time to protect Legolas, so he gave up on that idea. His eyes rested upon the back of the Elf, on the two knives strapped onto it to be more precise. He quickly pulled out one of the long knives, admiring the bone white handles with their intricate motives for a moment. He held the knife in his hand, testing the balance, trying to get familiar with the strangely low weight in his hands, compared to his sword. He swirled the knife around for the feel and then, after one last look at the still unconscious Elf, he rose to meet the orcs who had reached the bottom of the hill.

The first orc reached the bottom of the slope with high speed, and, unable to reduce that speed immediately, impaled himself on Aragorn's knife. The force of the impact combined with the weight of the orc caused Aragorn to stumble back, landing on one knee, while still holding the knife in front of him, causing the orc to remain standing. In one fluent movement he pulled the blade downwards and the handle towards his chest, while jumping side wards to avoid being crushed beneath the falling corpse. He rolled over and quickly raised the knife to block a swing aimed for his head from the second orc that had reached the bottom. He stood up as he pushed away the cruel blade with as much force as he had, causing the orc to stumble backwards. He quickly swung the blade to the left, beheading the third orc to arrive and then turned back around to the second orc, only to find out that that orc wasn't planning an attack, instead he was waiting for the fast approaching other orcs.

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Zkarsak had to admit the human fought well, given his wounds and the fact that he was fighting with another weapon than his own sword. After having seen the fate of the first orc, Zkarsak decided to lay back just a bit longer, in order to regain his balance before engaging in battle. He felt very lucky for not being the one who had been the first one to reach the bottom. The first orc had past him halfway, not intentionally off course; he wouldn't dare getting somewhere sooner than his leader. The orc simply was larger than Zkarsak, and therefore picked up more speed with every step as he descended.

Meanwhile a second orc had fallen, elvenblade cutting his throat and the human spun to meet the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, for all of them had reached the bottom now...

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At a shout in their foul language from the second orc; looking strangely familiar to Aragorn, the orcs started circling him. _Where have I seen him before?_ Aragorn thought, as he lashed out at one of the orcs that passed by him a bit too close. _Three down, seven to go;_ he thought as he saw the orc go down.

He spared a quick glance at Legolas, but upon seeing the still lifeless form, he knew not to expect any help from that side this time.

The orcs had formed their circle around him and started their attack after another shout, but much to Aragorn's surprise they didn't attack as a group, but each one after the other, landing blows that, mostly, could be easily dodged or blocked. The need to continuously raise and lower the knife and the turning of his body to block the blows were quickly draining his energy, which he hadn't had that much of because of the blood loss through his stomach wound. This routine of hitting and blocking went on for a few rounds, until the foot of the leader suddenly connected painfully with his hip, making him loose his balance for a second, but he managed to regain it in time for the next sword aimed at his side was already on its way. The next foot connected with his stomach when he blocked a swing from the right. Off course the foot landed exactly on his wound, which until now, though being rather painful and slightly bleeding, had held on quite nicely. This kick forced the air out of him and a wave of dizziness swept over him because of the pain it caused. He unconsciously dropped the knife and sunk to his knees, clutching his stomach. His eyes rested on the golden hair between the branches of the tree nearby. _"I'm sorry my friend..."_ he mumbled, before a fist connected with his head and everything went black once again.

The orcs looked expectantly at Zkarsak, as he hauled the motionless body of the human onto his back. _"What!"_ he snarled at them. _"Well, what about the Elf, don't we take him too, _one of them asked. _"That princeling-brat is dead! No fun left for us!"_

"_No he's not!" _One of them replied, too excited by the prospect of being able to torture an Elf, the prince of Mirkwood for that matter, to be worried about the consequences of arguing with Zkarsak. He kicked the Elf and a soft moan escaped. _"See?"_

"_As long as you carry him yourself!"_ Zkarsak replied, in a good and rather forgiving mood, now that he had his prize back. _"Let's leave, before the sun gets up!"_ he yelled and the group started to move.

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From inside the bushes a pair of eyes followed their departure; eyes lingering a bit longer on the golden-haired Elf now carried on the back of one of the orcs. The eyes silently retreated into the shadows, following the orcs and their prey with stealth; waiting for the right moment to act…

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**That's it for now, next chapter is already with my beta, so that one will be up next week(Really, telling the truth this time!) :) School's starting again, but I'll try to continue writing, I felt(and feel) really terrible for not updating for such an enormously long time.**

**Hope you all liked the chapter, I know not much new happens, but I was trying to get into the same writingstyle as the last chapters... **

**Please review, I know I hardly deserve them, but please do, even if it's to yell at me ;) That's it for now, see you all next week, promise:)**

**P.S. Wrote some other stories too, one of them I already posted(hint...hint ;)**


	24. Silence before the storm

**Allright, here it is, the next chapter. Not too long, but I hope everything happening inside it will make up for that :)**

**As always, thank you Natalie for beta-ing this for me!**

**And lots of thanks for those who reviewed too: invisigoth3, Malou and leggy9591. You rule!**

**Now, on to the story. **

000000000000** means there's a change in point-a-view. Enjoy! ;)**

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Chapter 24 

Silence before the storm...

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He would just follow them, to see where they were going. This group of orcs was not one to fight against on your own; the human had proven that much. This was no mindless bunch, at least their leader wasn't, and he had a fierceness to him that indicated that he wouldn't give up his captives just like that, making it too dangerous to get to them alone. This group could only be defeated when matched in number, or better yet overpowered, to lessen the losses on his side. But for that to happen he had to leave them, to get help, but not before he knew where to lead that help to. 

He looked at the human once more, unconscious now, slung over the leaders back, and then back to the blond-haired Elf, pondering the odd combination for the umpteenth time, before his eyes went back to the human, to the blood dripping down the front of his body. _It probably was his scream I heard,_ he thought. He was patrolling through Mirkwood Forest when he had heard that scream resounding through the trees; had heard the pain in that scream, and had quickly decided to find the one who had screamed like that, not at all expecting to find a human inside Mirkwood...

It hadn't been difficult to find out which way to go after he had traveled in the general direction of the scream for a while. First the sounds of someone running through the forest, not caring about stealth, and after that the sounds of someone falling down had caught his attention. He had hid in the bushes to wait and see what was causing such noise. Upon seeing the landing of the Elf, and the human, he had wanted to help them, but his instinct had told him to stay where he was, for danger was near. And once again his instinct hadn't failed him as seven orcs came down the hill too, defeated the human and dragged them both away.

And now he followed them, every movement of his feet carefully planned, moving as silently as the shadows that surrounded him. None of the orcs had noticed him yet, and he wasn't planning on making that happen any time soon. He looked at his surroundings, noticing the strange familiarity of the path the orcs took, feeling like he should know where they were heading.

And after a while he did...He stayed back a little more, rather sure of the destination now, ready to leave as soon as he saw his suspicions confirmed.

Rocks came in sight and between those an opening, where the orcs headed for, disappearing through it. _It is time_; he silently nodded, as he turned around, silently and swiftly moving westwards to gather his comrades for an attack...

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When Aragorn regained consciousness again, the first thing he heard was orc laughter. He quickly decided it would be in his best interest if the orcs didn't know he was awake yet. He carefully opened his eyes to slits and looked through his eyelashes at his surroundings. Very familiar surroundings that is, everything inside looked the same as when they had left it in a hurry that same morning; even the burned corpse of the orc hadn't been moved. The only difference was the larger group of orcs present now and the fact that he looked down on everything in the cave; hanging up from the ceiling by your hands gave one that advantage. He carefully turned his head to his right, inch by inch, afraid to alert the orcs of his awareness with his movement. He turned his head so far that he could see next to him out of the corners of his eyes, but all he saw were the rocks that formed the right wall of the cave. He slowly inched his head over to his left and finally his eyes caught sight of Legolas, or what was left of the once so proud Elf. He too hung from a pin in the ceiling, but he was doing far worse than the man did. The Elf's clothes were tattered and he was bleeding from numerous wounds. What was left of his shirt was soaked with blood, his face shone with a thick layer of sweat, causing his usually neatly braided golden hair to hang around in damp tresses. His head hung down limply, resting upon his chest and his eyes were closed.

Two orcs stood in front of the Elf, trying to get a reaction from him by slashing him with their swords and hitting him with their fists, but no reaction came, save from the continuous mumbling and the occasional tossing of the head from side to side.

The two orcs finally got bored with what they were doing. Off course, torturing one of those cursed Elves was always fun to be doing, but after nearly forty minutes of trying to get any reaction, a very long time for an orc to be focused on one thing, even Elftorture could get boring. _"How 'bout we killed him?"_ One asked, _"maybe that'll get a reaction from him!" _The second orc didn't respond immediately, after all he was the one who insisted on taking along the Elf in the first place, even when Zkarsak wasn't down with it. Killing the Elf now would prove Zkarsak's right and, more importantly, his wrong, which wasn't a good thing if you didn't want to be the fool of the pack, a place Oglisch didn't want to be a candidate for. So he said: _"No we'll give him some rest, maybe after that he'll be up to making more fun!"_

He quickly cut the ropes that held the Elf's arms tied to the ceiling, but left the ones on the ankles, making sure the Elf wouldn't be able to run away. The Elf landed hard on the floor, not even making an effort to catch himself. He merely curled up into a ball and continued his mumbling.

During this, a shout echoed through the cave: _He's awake! The human is awake! He moved!"_. Aragorn silently cursed himself, or to be more precise, his annoying human reactions. He had made a slight movement, unconsciously flinching when Legolas had hit the floor hard; his mind imaging the pain that must have caused. After that he had held perfectly still again, silently sending prayers to the Valar that nobody had noticed it. But off course, as usual, the Valar decided not to listen to his prayers, or just ignore them, and his slight flinch now was the reason the entire groups of orcs gathered close around him. All seemed to be waiting for the smaller orc Aragorn had noticed already by the slope-fight to do something.

The orc smiled a rather unpleasant smile at Aragorn, who felt chills going down his spine, which he managed to conceal with all his best efforts. _"Finally awake human? _The orc spat at Aragorn, who just stared back defiantly. _"Not afraid of me, are you? Well, you will be before I'm done with you and then you'll wish your Elvish friend over there hadn't saved your life, and you just had died the first time we met!"_

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**That's all for now. Oh dear, oh dear, things aren't looking that great for the two of them. What will happen to them?**

**Well, in order to find that out, you'll have to wait for the next chapter...LOL Evil me, I know...**

**Can't promise anything though, about when that chapter will be on, but I will do my best to make it as soon as possible. And in order to make that happen sooner, all of you push that purple button on the left and tell me if you liked it. I just love getting reviews:) **

**So go and push! ;)**


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